Destiny's Sense of Humor
by s w e e t r e b e l l i o n
Summary: Prince Zuko is finally successful in capturing the Avatar, but he is far from the Fire Nation, so he has a long two months ahead of him. He eventually befriends Katara. But soon Zuko has to make the hardest decision of his life. Chapter 8 up!
1. Capturing the Avatar

Disclaimer: I don't want to say I don't own Avatar. But I don't. :sigh:

**Chapter 1: Capturing the Avatar**

-Zuko-

Zuko stood at the railing of his warship. It was night time, but the sky was hidden behind a swathe of clouds. _Good,_ he reflected. _We will need the darkness._ He had almost captured the Avatar in some Abbey. He had met a young lady with a giant creature that could smell "a rat a continent away." He had used a necklace he had stolen from the Water peasant girl to sniff her out, but the Avatar wasn't with them. Now he forced someone from the Abbey to tell him which way they had gone. She said, terrified, they had flown somewhere northeast. Zuko had followed, close to the shoreline and keeping in view of their flying bison. They had not seemed to notice, seeing as Zuko and his crew was keeping well back, and had landed a few minutes ago.

"Sir?" came a voice from behind him. He did not turn around to view the captain speaking to him.

"We have arrived at our destination," he replied. It was not a question.

"Yes, sir," the captain confirmed, bowing slightly, although this was unseen to Zuko.

"Good," he replied. "Gather the men I requested. Tell them they are to meet me on shore in five minutes."

"Right away, sir," the captain replied promptly, and hurried off to alert the three men Zuko had asked be present. He turned to deboard the ship as it came to a stop. He settled himself into the small boat waiting to take him and his three cronies to shore. He would easily be able to do the job with one, or so he thought. But he knew he could not chance the Avatar or the Earthbending girl being awake. The Water peasant boy was hardly a threat, and the girl was not yet a master Waterbender, but the Avatar and the Earthbender were both masters of their craft, so he brought three men and himself, one for each traveler. Within minutes the three men he had asked for arrived. Wu and Seung were big, muscular men (their names were Yoshiro, Wu, and Seung), and could easily snap the Avatar or any of his companions in half. But they were also great Firebenders, the best of a small, elite squad he had brought with him the day he was sent on his lonely mission.

Yoshiro was a small, skinny man, and not a Firebender, but was a master of archery and stealth.

"Take us to the shore," Zuko ordered. The man in the boat began rowing without a word. The short trip to shore was silent. When they got there, they crept towards the trees, but Zuko motioned to stop at the forest's edge. "Yoshiro and I will go first," he whispered. "You two are too big; you would make too much noise going through the trees." It was true. They were already eyeing the small gap between the trees apprehensively. "If you hear my call, come directly to the sounds of the noise. Don't worry about stealth. If you don't hear my call, stay here and wait for us. This may not require force." He motioned to Yoshiro and they set off silently in the direction of the Avatar's camp.

When they arrived, he was gratified to see that the only one awake was the Waterbending girl. He was not gratified to see that she was staring intently into the bushes exactly where they were. "Take her down," he breathed to Yoshiro. He took aim and fired, faster than fast, but she had seen him raising his bow, and the arrow was hindered by the bushes anyway. She leapt to her feet and waterwhipped into the bushes. Zuko and Yoshiro both dived out of its way, exposing them.  
"I thought I smelled something vile!" she shouted, entirely louder than she needed to. And, just as she had clearly planned, the Avatar, the Earthbender, and the Water peasant all woke up.  
"Zuko!" the Avatar hissed, springing up at once. The Earthbender got up more slowly. She was clearly awake, but before she completely came out of her sleeping bag, she seemed to be surveying her surroundings. Zuko just didn't understand her. He didn't even know if she was blind or not. But she stood up.

"So this is the infamous Zuko?" she said, a hint of a sneer in her voice. He said nothing back, but he had no chance to because the earth beneath him suddenly rocketed upward, shooting him ten feet into the air and receding back into the ground before he could fall on it. He let out a cry of shock as he went up, and in a matter of seconds, Wu and Seung came crashing through the trees and launched fire blasts at the Waterbender and the Earthbender. The Water peasant boy was awake now, and he had launched his boomerang toward Yoshiro, who dodged it skillfully and shot three arrows in quick succession, pinning one of his arms to a tree.

Zuko turned to face the Avatar. He shot a fire blast at him, which he dodged. He came running at him and then ran circles around Zuko, going faster and faster, causing the wind to pick up speed and carry dust from the ground into the air. He realized what the Avatar was doing, and whipped a thin cord of fire into his way, knocking him down. The dust fell in a great cloud, getting into Zuko's mouth and eyes. He squeezed his eyes shut and coughed hard. The Avatar had recovered by the time the dust had cleared, and blasted him with an unbroken wall of what seemed to be rigid, inflexible air. He was completely winded as he hit the tree. But, breathing hard, he managed to keep the Avatar at bay with his fire whip until he recovered.

At full strength again, he launched himself at the Avatar, throwing fireball after fireball, relentlessly attacking, and it wasn't until about ten seconds had passed that he realized the Avatar was not attacking, but only dodging. Or was he? He was moving his arms in a fashion that would suggest bending, but he couldn't see anything happen. Finally, the Avatar thrust his arms outward as far as they would go, palms facing outward.

Ignoring this, Zuko made to shoot a blast of fire at him, but it fizzled out upon contact with the air. And it was then he realized what the Avatar had been doing: there was no oxygen around him. He stared around. Everyone else was still fighting. Well, the Water peasant boy wasn't, he'd been knocked out, but the Earthbender and Waterbender were still fighting, as were his warriors. The oxygen-less space was only around him. He began to cough, falling to his knees. He could not make fire, he was getting dizzy, lightheaded… he was surely going to die, and everything was swimming before his eyes… he couldn't move, he needed to breathe…

And as soon as everything went black, he found that there was oxygen around him again. He heaved a huge, ravenous breath. He could feel life flooding back into his body, but he was on the ground, and every part of his body felt horribly fatigued. He could see the Waterbender was down, and the Avatar was as well. But none of his warriors seemed to notice that he was down. Who had taken him out? He heard a terrible scream from beside him and turned to see the Waterbender writhing and squirming in the dirt. He felt a horrible pang of sympathy for her upon seeing her arm. It was burned badly, bleeding and angry red. The skin looked like it had curdled.

The Earthbending girl was fighting valiantly, but it was now two against one, seeing as Seung was on the ground, badly burned (_Wait, burned,_ he thought. _Idiot Wu._) And, finally, dodging two fireblasts, she was taken out with a well placed arrow, blazing by her temple, hitting it hard enough that she was knocked out but not killed. None of them were to be killed.

Zuko staggered to his feet. "Good work," he coughed. They looked surprised that he was so fatigued, and that they were getting a compliment. "Now take someone and get back to the ship!" he said, his snappish manner returning. They looked almost relieved that it was back, unsure how to react to a nicer Zuko. They obediently picked up some random body, and the Waterbending girl was left to him. He knelt down to pick her up. She was surprisingly light, even with her heavy coat on. He felt lightheaded again for just a moment, but knew (or thought he knew) it was just because of his almost being choked to death, for lack of a better phrase.

As he headed back, he saw her eyes open, just a slit. They widened very slightly and she muttered something before passing out again. He couldn't quite make it out, and didn't really want to contemplate what it meant if she said what he thought she did… "You're okay."

-Katara-

Katara lay awake in her sleeping bag, thinking about the weeks events. Madame Wu's prediction, in particular. She knew she had pressed too hard on details on what he looked like, how he dressed, and all that. Madame Wu had probably made a bunch of it up just to get her out, she reflected gloomily. But the first reading… that couldn't be a fluke, could it? _She would marry a very powerful Bender…_

_Then she recalled Sokka's words when Aang was drying the lava from the volcano into a sort of tidal wave of solid rock. That kid's one powerful bender… he had said. So was she to marry Aang? For some reason, the thought just wanted to make her bury herself in her sleeping bag and never come out until the war was over. _

Then she recalled Sokka's words when Aang was drying the lava from the volcano into a sort of tidal wave of solid rock. _That kid is one powerful Bender, _he had said. So was she to marry Aang? For some reason, the thought just wanted to make her bury herself in her sleeping bag and never come out until the war was over.

Truly it wouldn't be _that _bad. But Aang was her _friend_ and she'd never seen him as anything more. She had been picking up subtle vibes that he liked her as… more than a friend. But she really didn't want anything more than that, friendship. And also, being the wife of an Avatar… he'd be away a lot on dangerous missions. Of course, she would accompany him, but this eliminated any chance of family life, something she'd hoped to have after this war was over. And he had problems that she could never understand. His entire nation was gone, her mother's death could not even compare to that. He had the world to pacify, and she could never help him with some of his problems.

But he was the most powerful bender she knew. Surely she would have to marry him. She would've burrowed into her sleeping bag to wait for sleep to claim her, but she heard a crack of a twig in the bushes at the edge of the clearing they were camping out in. She sat bolt upright, staring intently in the direction of the noise.

There was silence for a moment. But she saw and heard someone raise a bow. She hurled herself to the right just as an arrow landed, quivering, where her stomach was mere seconds ago. She scrambled out of her sleeping bag and grabbed her waterskin. She sent a waterwhip into the bushes. And none other than Prince Zuko and one of his lackeys dove out. "I thought I smelled something vile," she screamed. She had to make enough noise that Aang and Toph and Sokka would wake up. Her ploy was successful. Aang and Toph stirred in their sleeping bags. Once Aang realized it was Zuko, he sprang to his feet at once.

"Zuko!" he hissed. Toph got up to stand next to Aang, but paused at the mouth of her sleeping bag, surveying her surroundings. Katara could tell she was examining Zuko and his lackey, taking in every part of them she could observe.

"So this is the infamous Zuko?" she sneered, straightening up. Before he could make a reply she lunged forward. She closed her hands like she was holding an apple in each and wrenched them upward, along with the circle of land beneath Zuko. He was flung ten, maybe fifteen feet up, and she pulled it back down so fast that he had a ten foot fall as well. Then, out of nowhere, two big, muscular thugs came blundering through the trees. They looked quite unintelligent; she half expected them to take out her and Toph by simply falling on top of them, so it was a surprise when they launched fire blasts at them.

By this time Sokka was finally up, and the scrawny archer who had accompanied Zuko into the forest pinned him against a tree with several well-aimed arrows and then was hit in the back of the head by Sokka's boomerang; he had missed the first time, but no one ever expected it to come back. Zuko turned to face Aang and the battle had begun.

After dodging one of blow she began to water whip him, but he retaliated with a tongue of inferno. When they combined, Katara's water turned to steam and rose upward, and his fire whip fizzled out. Her stomach lurched. There was barely any water around, she couldn't let it go! She took as much of it out of the air as she could and quickly put it back in her waterskin, only to take all of it out again to shield herself from a ball of fire. As she yet again summoned the steam back into liquid form, Toph put a wall around her guy and sent Katara's opponent flying. "Thanks," Katara said hurriedly, but Toph had no time to reply as her opponent had broken out of his earthen prison. Katara turned back and got a few good lashes in while he was down before she had to dodge a fire blast so narrowly that it singed a hole in her nightshirt.

Many minutes, fireballs, and water whips later, she was out of water. Some of it escaped into the air every time it connected with fire, and now it was gone. The dewy leaves provided barely a cupful of water, not enough to do anything but throw equivalent of a water balloon at him. She quickly assessed the situation. She didn't have enough water to fill an eggcup, Sokka is down, Toph is fighting two at once, and this guy's neck was about as thick as her waist. She would have to defeat him with wit alone (Which wouldn't be that hard, she reflected late). He aimed another fire blast at him and she ran behind him. He turned around stupidly, she stayed behind him. He was lumbering around in circle after circle, trying to get a clear shot. She smirked at his monumental idiocy. Finally, frustrated, he shot a blast over his shoulder, successfully taking out the bigger of his two mates.

She was quite enjoying the sport now, but she saw something that almost made her heart stop. Zuko was coughing and spluttering on the ground, paling rapidly. He was trying to move or breathe but could not. Aang was taking away his oxygen! He couldn't breathe or make fire! Aang wasn't going to _kill_ him… was he?

She could not take that chance; she couldn't let him darken himself so much, even for Zuko. She gathered all the water she could and launched it at Aang faster than she believed possible. It hit him, and he fell spectacularly off his feet, out cold.

But unfortunately, in the time that it took her to do that, the thug fighting her had turned and shot a blast of fire right at her, and she was not ready. It hit her full in the arm and she was knocked off her feet, writhing and screaming in pain as her opponent moved on to Toph. It felt like a thousand white-hot knives were delving into her arm, tearing up her skin. The pain of this was so great, she would surely die…

She passed out. After she woke up again a few minutes later, she felt herself being held in a pair of strong arms. She opened her eyes open just a crack, and then a little more to see Zuko carrying her. "You're… okay…" was all she could manage, muttered and soft, before passing out again.

Author's Note: So? Did you like it? Please, please, please R&R, but don't be too vicious, this is my first ever fanfic, let alone Avatar fic. Constructive criticism is appreciated, flames are NOT. So, I have Chapter 2 written, I do need to make some adjustments on it, but it's almost done. So five reviews or two weeks and I'll put it up! Let's hope five reviews come first: crosses fingers:

Now, a few things about me and then you can review (or just review now, doesn't really matter):

1. I like words like incensed or nettled instead of annoyed.  
2. I believe in magic and destiny and I write what I get signs to write about (I'll explain next chapter).  
3. I am never satisfied with my chapters. Never. So I make them as close to perfect in my eyes as they can get before posting them. But you're views of perfect are what matter. And this is where CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM comes in.  
4.This is my first ever story, but I'm already a review junkie. Please R&R!  
5. Author's notes will not always be this long.

-- S W e e T R e B e L L i o N


	2. Where are We?

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar. I don't own Zuko. Life is cruel.

**Chapter 2: Where are We?**

Katara

Katara awoke to a horrible wave of pain beginning in her left arm and spreading through her entire body. It was so strong that she rolled over onto her side and retched onto the cold iron floor. She took several deep breaths, steadying herself. To her surprise, a voice sounded from the corner of the room. "Clean it up," it ordered. She wondered dimly whether or not he was talking to her, but her question was answered as a short, skinny man came over and began dabbing at her pool of sick with a rag, a nauseated expression on his face.

She took several more deep breaths as the memories of the night before came flooding back to her. There was a battle, Aang was killing Zuko, she shot a little ball of water at him, and she was burned. The pain had eased since then, and now her arm was aching and stinging badly, but it was bearable now. She turned her head to examine it, and was surprised to find a thick greenish paste covering it. She finally began to take note of her surroundings. She was covered to her waist in a thin blanket, and she was lying on a cot raised about three inches from the ground. She was wearing a man's nightshirt of Fire Nation colors; the tattered remains of her pajamas laid, burnt and torn, in a corner. A man with a closely cropped, iron-gray beard and a very shiny pate was staring down at her arm in concern, occasionally dabbing on more green ointment. Prince Zuko was standing in a corner. His face was unreadable, but there might just have been a drop of sympathy there. The only other person in the room was the servant, but he left with his soiled rag to get a new one. "Where's Aang?" she managed finally.

"The Avatar is in a separate room," Zuko replied shortly, his eyes trained on the ground. She opened her mouth to ask where Sokka and Toph were, but he answered it for her, continuing, "as are your other companions." Katara was silent for a moment, mulling things over. Finally she began to worry about the state of her arm.

"Will it be okay?" she asked, not needing to elaborate on what body part she was referring to. The doctor figure answered for Zuko.

"You are very lucky," he said. His warm tone and wide smile didn't reach his cold eyes. "When you were burned, we had trouble getting your shirt off. We had to cut it off at the sleeve. You're lucky we could get the sleeve off without taking your skin with—"

"Will it be okay?" she cut swiftly across his monologue.

"There will be a certain amount of scarring," he said, evidently trying to say it in a tone of delicacy. "But if you lie down and have this ointment on for the next 36 hours, it should be fine." Katara exhaled heavily. That's not too bad, then.

"I'll still be able to use it, then?" she asked.

"Yes," he replied firmly. She closed her eyes as another wave of pain swept over her, much weaker than before, but it still hurt. She opened her eyes again and fixed them on Zuko's scar. She wondered, would her arm be the same way, purple and red scars taking the shape of flames all up and down her arm? Meanwhile, the doctor was talking to Zuko. "I think I've done all I can," he said. "Would you like me to stay with her, my liege, or shall I? She will need a watch for the night." _The night,_ Katara thought. _I must've been out longer than I thought._

"I will stay," he said. The doctor bowed and left Zuko with a pot of the ointment. Katara laid down, staring at the ceiling, and for a long time, no one spoke.

"Does yours still hurt?" she asked, breaking the silence. She knew he knew what she was talking about.

"It will hurt for the next week or so," he said quietly, answering the question that was really on her mind. "After that you won't notice it." Katara nodded, and there was more silence. She was starting to get impatient with him. There was no reason for him to talk to her, but seriously, who can stand all this silence!

"Why did you heal me?" she burst out. She was nettled that he wasn't talking, so it sounded angrier than she had intended. I mean she continued, her tone softening a bit. "I'm your prisoner! I'm with the Avatar trying to make your Nation lose the war… why keep me healthy?"

"If you die," he began, "that's one less bargaining chip I have to keep the Avatar voluntarily under my control. If you are badly enough injured, it may activate his Avatar spirit and he will destroy my ship." She felt a slight pang of disappointment for his methods. She had thought that he may be grateful to her for saving his neck, but then it hit her. He didn't know. She clenched her teeth against the third wave of pain. When it was gone she suddenly realized how tired she was. With each wave she'd gotten number, and more tired. She closed her eyes, but before she went to sleep she heard Zuko muttering something.

"What?" she asked.

"Thank you," he said after a pause. The corners of her mouth turned upward very slightly as she fell asleep. Her dream that night was horrible. She was just about to shoot a water ball at Aang, but before she could shoot it her opponent turned it into steam with his fire breath. She tried to get it back in her waterskin but he shot more and more fireballs at her, they all found their mark. She rose into the air, completely engulfed in fire, and everyone was looking up at her, but they would not do anything. She watched Zuko die, she watched _herself_ die from out of her body, she could see herself in the air from the ground but felt the pain of the fire, felt the screams escaping her own lips… she woke up with a start. Zuko had taken her by the shoulders and placed her on her back. She had apparently been tossing and turning such that she had gotten her healing paste all over her bed and nightshirt. Without a word he began putting more on, and more to rid herself of the pain than anything, Katara sighed and went back into a deep, dreamless sleep.

When she woke up the following morning, she had no memory of the dream or waking up after it.

-Zuko-

Zuko carried the lifeless form of the Waterbender carefully through the trees. She was badly burned. He carefully rested her arm over her stomach as he walked and examined it. The skin underneath her long-sleeved nightgown was red, raw, and bleeding. The fibers of her sleeve were stuck to her skin… "Yoshiro," he said.

"Yes, sir?" Yoshiro asked, carrying the Earthbender whose head was lolling around in his arms.

"Tell Sung that he is to fetch the ship's doctor upon boarding," Zuko said. "He is to tell him that he should meet me on shore. Then he is to ready a vacant room with a cot and blankets."

"Yes, sir," Yoshiro replied and promptly passed the message to Wu. Wu then told it to Seung. By that time they were on shore, and Wu, Yoshiro, and Seung were waiting for any further instructions.

"Find a room for your prisoner and put them in there," he said. They bowed, but stayed put. "What are you standing around for?" he snapped. They hurried back to the small boat waiting to take them back to the ship at once. Zuko laid Katara down gingerly on the sand. He pulled gently on the wrist of the sleeve to see if it would come off, but she unconsciously jerked. Along with peeling off the sleeve, he had gotten a bit of her skin as well. This would be harder than expected. He saw she had a waterskin at her hip, but it was empty, and the only water available now was dirty or saltwater. He would simply have to wait for the doctor.

After a few minutes, he could see the paddleboat nearing the shore. Soon it was pulling up into the shore and the ship doctor, whose name was Wongsa, stumbled out. He came up to Zuko and audibly gasped when he saw the state of Katara's arm. "Can you do anything for it?" he asked.

"We have to remove the sleeve," he said.

"We can't," he said. "I tried, the skin comes off with it." Wongsa frowned, looking down on her.

"We will have to cut it off at the sleeve," he muttered mostly to himself, "then take off the rest of the garment…"

"What!" Zuko yelped.

"We have to remove the rest of her garment," Wongsa replied patiently. "So we can take off the sleeve. If something pulls it or if she turns over, it will tear off too much skin and we'll have to amputate her arm. Suppressing the blood and waiting for the skin to grow back would leave her wide open to infection for too long. Either the skin stays or the arm goes."

Zuko grimaced. "Fine," he growled. Wongsa took out from his first-aid kit a pair of medical scissors and a hypothermic blanket. He cut off the sleeve at the shoulder. The part not stuck to her burned skin just fell limply to her shoulder. Wongsa began cutting down her side to remove the dress without having to turn her over. Unbidden, an ungodly image of Katara flooded his mind's eye, and he banished it immediately. _You should not be thinking like that,_ he scolded himself. He turned around and closed his eyes as Wongsa removed her nightgown and covered her with the blanket.

"Come help me," he said, and Zuko obligingly turned and knelt on the other side of her arm, which Wongsa had laid at a right angle to her body. "Now be very, very careful, only remove bits of fabric at a time." So, together, they began the precarious task of peeling her sleeve off her arm without removing the skin.

And finally, a couple hours and many shreds of fabric later, Katara's arm was free of her sleeve, and the sky had turned dark gray to signal the coming dawn. But Wongsa was not done yet. He pulled out of his kit a bottle an amber liquid. "We have no water here to cleanse it with," he said. "So we'll use this for now, to fight off any infection that may have entered her body since the fight." He poured a generous amount of the foul-smelling stuff onto her burn and rubbed it in with his gloved hands. Then he took out several leaves and smashed them into a poultice, and rubbed it in over the disinfecting liquid.

"What's that?" he asked.

"A good doctor never reveals his ingredients," said Wongsa mysteriously. "It is a poultice of a certain kind of leaf. Its juices interact well with the burn ointment I will put on her when we go back to the ship, and make it work faster and more effectively." He stood up. "I can do nothing else for her here. Let's take her back to the ship." Zuko nodded and picked her up, being careful not to let the blanket slip.

When they returned to the ship, Seung was waiting to show them to the room he had readied. Zuko sent him to fetch a spare nightshirt from the crew laundry ("I don't care whose it is, just make sure it's clean!" he had snapped). When they arrived there, he laid her down in the cot and replaced the hypothermic blanket with a thin sheet that Seung had set out for her. Right on cue, Seung came with a nightshirt. "Go now," he said. Seung bowed and exited. Meanwhile, Wongsa had taken the nightshirt.

"Help me put it on her," he said.

"What!" he exclaimed loudly, repulsed.

"Oh just do it," said Wongsa irritably. For a moment Zuko glowered at him. But he grudgingly obliged and sat behind her, holding her in an upright position as Wongsa put the shirt on her, rolling up the left sleeve to the shoulder. "I'll be right back," he said, exiting the room to get burn ointment. Zuko laid Katara back down on the cot and covered her up to the waist, then drew back, disgusted that he even had to touch her. Although it wasn't _that_ bad, came a smirking voice in his head. He ignored it and backed into a corner to wait for Wongsa.

After a few minutes he came, a young servant carrying towels and a huge pot of burn ointment following him. Wongsa took the burn ointment and the servant boy backed away as he worked, spreading a thick layer of ointment on the burn. Zuko finally spoke. "Stay with her. I have work to do," he said, and then added to the servant boy, "You stay too."

Through training and meals and a game of Pai Sho he was forced into playing with Uncle, his mind was elsewhere. Specifically, thinking about the battle and who saved him. _It wasn't Seung,_ he thought, absentmindedly slapping down some random tile onto the Pai Sho board. _Wu somehow took him out…_

"Prince Zuko, you cannot place the Great Blue Heron tile at a right angle to the Ginseng Flower tile," Uncle's reproving voice interrupted his thoughts as if from very far away. "You can only do that if you are plotting to capture my Panda Lily tile, and I have not yet placed it on the board! Put your Owl's Shadow tile there instead." He swapped it with his Owl's Shadow piece and Uncle put down his Lotus Tile piece beside it. "I win the pot!" he said with satisfaction. Then, upon seeing Zuko's vacant expression, he asked, "There are other things troubling you, Prince Zuko. Would you care to tell me about them?"

"There is nothing on my mind, Uncle," Zuko lied, standing up.

--- --- ---

_It wasn't Wu, he didn't even notice the Avatar fall,_ Zuko thought, vaguely sending a tongue of flame in the direction of Uncle Iroh. It missed by about three feet, but he was too deep in thought to notice. Sighing, Uncle called, "Perhaps that is enough training for today, Prince Zuko." He came up to him and yet again interrupted his thoughts. "You are too distracted, Prince Zuko," said Uncle concernedly. "Will you tell me what is on your mind?"

"I've told you, Uncle," he replied somewhat less than patiently. "There's nothing on my mind."

--- --- ---

_It wasn't Yoshiro, there was no arrow there…_he thought again, his fork lolling vacantly in his hand. "Prince Zuko," Uncle began.

"How many times do I have to tell you, there is _nothing_ on my mind!" Zuko burst out angrily. He got up and headed to Katara's room and halfway there, he stopped dead.

Duh.

--- --- ---

When he arrived in her room, he went over it in his mind. He didn't want to be in debt to this girl, he didn't want to show any gratitude… but she had saved his life. The Avatar was all wet when Seung had taken him, and she's the only Waterbender other than the Avatar himself. He sighed heavily. Many minutes passed before Katara woke up.

Her eyes shot open, she sat up, and promptly threw up all over the floor. Disgusted, he ordered the servant boy to clean it up. But he knew why she was in so much pain… Firebending burns were different than normal burns. If the fire comes from a Firebender, the burns hurt more, just like it leaves different scars, and the other nations have a lower tolerance for them. Her pain was probably even greater than his when he got his scar…

Wongsa was applying a new coat of burn ointment, and she stared around, evidently trying to steady herself and find out where she was. "Where's Aang?" she asked with effort.

"The Avatar is in a separate room," he replied as succinctly as possible, staring a hole in the ground. "As are your other companions."

"Will it be okay?" she asked. He knew that she was referring to her arm. He glanced at Wongsa, and he took the hint. They spoke for a while, and when Katara finally seemed to be confident that she would make a full recovery, she closed her eyes, and then stared at his scar. He glanced at her, and felt some strange occurrence in the pit of his stomach. He couldn't quite put his finger on what was happening, but he averted his gaze back to the ground and it was gone. Very suddenly, or so it seemed, he realized Wongsa was talking to him.

"I think I've done all I can," he said. "Would you like me to stay with her, my liege, or shall I? She will need a watch for the night."

He thought about it. He could simply act like he didn't know it was her. He could ignore her for the rest of their voyage back… but even for him, it didn't feel right. "I will stay," he said. Wongsa bowed, pressed the pot of ointment into his hands, and left with the servant. He silently steeled himself for a few minutes until…

"Does yours still hurt?"

"It will hurt for the next week or so," he said carefully, answering the question he knew she was trying to ask. "After that you won't notice it." Katara nodded. Silence.

"Why did you heal me?" she burst out angrily. He wondered why she was so mad that he did. He cocked an eyebrow at her. She continued, sounding less angry now, "I'm your prisoner! I'm with the Avatar trying to make your Nation lose the war… why keep me healthy?"

"If you die," he said, "that's one less bargaining chip I have to keep the Avatar voluntarily under my control. If you are badly enough injured, it may activate his Avatar spirit and he will destroy my ship." This wasn't entirely true. Just as she was closing her eyes, he finally said it, "Thanks… for saving me." But she didn't hear him.

"What?" she asked. He mentally rolled his eyes.

"Thank you," he said, louder. She said nothing in return, but he could swear that she was smiling, just a little, as she went to sleep. That smile was gone after a few hours. She started thrashing and turning and muttering. He drew forward, gazing at her. She looked troubled, the most you could do while having a bad dream, he supposed. But she was also very pretty… he mentally slapped himself and focused again. She was tossing and turning so much that he needed to put a new coat on. He gently took her shoulders and shook her awake. She opened her eyes, just a crack, and stared at him for a moment, expression unreadable. He set her straight and began to cover her arm in the paste again. She sighed and went back to sleep.

(A/N: Well, Chapter 2 is up! I am amazed that I already have 10 reviews, only from the first two days! They are all wonderful, so kudos to robin's-hope, XxX-Calliope-Muse of EpicsXxX, -angelic.but.evil-, dimension guardian, Ch3rryf1ava, Lionessmon, AnimeOtakuBara, cayavatar, catho, and DragonMistressandTamer! And my little story for today: This used to be chapter 1, but a lot different. Long story short, I accidentally deleted the first 2 chapters, so I decided to start again with the Chapter 1 I posted here. I think it was a sign that I shouldn't post it yet... and it's a lot better now. Yeah, I'll stick to writing Avatar. Anyway, please R&R, I'll update in 2 weeks or another 5 reviews!)

**

* * *

**


	3. Moving Forward

Disclaimer: Among the many things I don't own, Avatar is only one of them. Like I said, life is cruel. 

**Chapter 3: Moving Forward**

-Katara-

Katara woke up. She felt better today, her skin felt raw and tender, but other than that the pain was gone. She glanced into a corner. Zuko was sitting there, just watching her. She felt a prickle of unease… "Don't you ever sleep?" she snapped. He didn't reply, but simply kept staring. She glared back for a moment, although she could not truthfully say that she was angry with him. Her gaze slipped down to his body and a flame rose in her chest. She turned her head and stared determinedly at the wall, her face growing hot.

After something like 10 minutes, the door was opened, and a timid-looking servant no older than seventeen came in holding a tray. It had a chunk of bread and a goblet of water. He set it down next to Katara without a word, and turned to Zuko. "G-General Iroh wishes for you to a-accompany him for b-breakfast in the dining h-hall," he reported, looking absolutely terrified to be speaking to Zuko. Katara raised her eyebrows. Zuko was bad, certainly, but what could he have done to make this boy so afraid to talk to him? "Fine," he said dismissively. He stood up and made to leave, but as he reached the door, he turned back and looked at Katara. The look made her feel like he might say something very meaningful, but all he said was, "Don't ruin your ointment." He then left, followed by the servant.

She stared at the door for a few seconds and then took the piece of bread and began chewing on it thoughtfully, her mind galaxies away. She was thinking… was it worth it, saving Aang from tainting himself so deeply? He would have to kill eventually. He could not win the war without anyone dying at his hands. So was Zuko such a great loss, if it would stop him from being hunted down so viciously?

But in killing Zuko, that would only eliminate one of the many people hunting him. Admiral Zhao had the power, assets, and manpower to hunt down Aang much more successfully than Zuko, the Fire Lord had armies of elite Benders and weapons specialists at his command, should Zhao fail he has more than a few choices in who to send on the mission after him. _I did the right thing_, she assured herself. And she believed it.

_Anyway,_ she got to thinking, _does Zuko really deserve to die?_ The answer that came right into her head was 'yes,' but she immediately thought better of it. He was indeed on a hunt for the Avatar, her best friend, and the only hope the world has for peace, but he didn't deserve death. A few times she could remember he did not try to follow them when he saw them. During the storm Sokka got sick in, in the eye of the storm they could see him and he was staring up at them, but he did nothing. And after that, Aang wouldn't tell her who the Blue Spirit was, but she was sure Zuko was involved.

Then she began to think about her arm, whether it would be alright. It felt okay now. She glanced at it. The burn was sufficiently shrouded by the thick green paste. She wanted to wipe it aside to see the damage, but Zuko had told her not to ruin it. She did it anyway. She wiped a tiny, thumb sized area away and saw traces of red scars there. She smeared the ointment back over it. She stared at the door, preparing for bile to rise in her throat and panic to shroud her mind, but after a few seconds she realized that she wasn't all that upset, and her predicted reaction was a complete overreaction. _The scar I'll have after this will be with me forever,_ she thought. _But all it will show is that I am brave._

She closed her eyes, somewhat comforted by that thought and slept an hour or two. She woke up and eyed her goblet of water. She was really thirsty, but she wanted to Waterbend. Just a little, she had to keep that part of her alive. With her good hand she lifted the water out of the goblet and formed it into the shape of a butterfly. She made it fly around the room a couple of times. She was about to put it back in the goblet when the door opened. Her arm gave a startled jerk and the butterfly (now a formless, orange-sized ball) hit the wall and slid down. "Great!" she fumed to Zuko without thinking. "I was going to drink that!"

"Then why were you flying it around the room?" he replied dryly. She rolled her eyes.

"So why have you come?" she asked.

"If you _must_ know, my Uncle told me to," he said. He drew a sharp intake of breath, and then exhaled slowly. She thought that she would hate having him in the room. She thought she would've preferred to have anyone, _anyone_ other than Zuko to bring her food and keep her company, but she wasn't perturbed, to her surprise. Perhaps it was because he never said anything, just sat in the corner and stared at the wall or the ceiling or the floor. Or maybe because he wasn't exactly the worst thing to look at… _Stop it! Don't think that! He is the _enemy,_ remember!_ She scolded herself. _Well, if he's going to be here, I might as well make use of him._

"I have some questions," she began testily. "First of all, how long will I be here, assuming we don't break out before the voyage reaches its destination?"

"We have two months yet," he replied shortly.

"Will I get anything else to change into?" she asked. "Or will I ever get to take a shower?"

He paused, apparently pondering this. "I suppose so. The next time we get on land I'll have Uncle get you something else to wear. And you can use… my shower." She furrowed her brows. Why his shower?

"Why your shower?" she asked curiously.

"Well, there are about 25, 30 showers on board," he began. "One is mine, one is Uncle's and the rest are in the crew quarters. Let me tell you, Uncle's shower is not a place you want to go. And the crew showers… there's always someone sleeping down there. The night crew sleeps during the day and vice versa. These men haven't seen a member of the opposite sex in two years. You would be putting yourself at risk even being down there, let alone showering there." She stared at him for a long moment. She was both touched and surprised at his care. Well, admittedly, making a small sacrifice to keep a girl from being sexually abused is natural for other people, but for Zuko it was rather surprising.

"Thank you," she said softly. He merely nodded. For once, she didn't mind the silence, she was thinking… two months… that's a long time… "Um," she said with effort and paused, wondering if what she was about to say was right. She paused for so long that he looked up and raised his eyebrows at her, thinking she was waiting for him to show that the heard her. "Two months is… a while to be on this ship. I was just thinking…" She paused again.

"Spit it out!" he snapped irritably. Her expression hardened.

"I was just thinking that we could be friends!" she said, blushing. "Or at least be civil to each other. I accept that I can't escape with Appa tied up until we get to land, which probably will be a while from now." He stared at her. She expected to see scorn and disbelief in his expression, but he just looked like he was pondering her request. That gaze… it felt like he was staring right through her eyes and into her very heart. At the same time she wanted to look away and keep staring back. She went with the latter, until he finally spoke.

"I suppose we could be respectful of each other," he replied slowly. "But…why? I thought you'd want to see as little of me as possible."

"I thought that, too," she replied honestly. "But I might as well have no enemies on this ship. At least none who will go out of their way to verbally slander me, anyway." She could have sworn the corners of his mouth twitched.

"It's time to take off your ointment," he said in a business-like tone. For the first time, Katara noticed a pile of towels by him. He approached her, holding two of them, but he paused. "Are you ready?" he asked. She took a deep breath.

"Yes." He nodded and began carefully removing the ointment. As he did so, her breath caught in her throat, just for a moment, and the area of her arm covered in burns, from her shoulder to her elbow, prickled, not uncomfortably. She watched as the worst of her scars were revealed. A knot tightened in her chest, she knew the tiny bit she glimpsed would not compare to the full damage. But as more and more of it was revealed she felt as though she was being cleansed, as though venom was being extracted from her body. When it was all gone she reached up to stroke it, realizing the tingling was gone. It felt rough, uneven, but other than that her arm felt no different from before. When she finally looked up at Zuko, he was looking back at her, a hint of concern in his amber eyes.

"Are you okay?" he asked. She actually smiled.

"I'm perfect."

-Zuko-

Zuko sat staring at Katara for several long minutes. He had gone to his room and slept a little, maybe three or four hours, but he never slept much anymore, so he was wide awake. He was examining every detail of Katara. She had long brown hair that was sprawled all around her pillow as she slept. Her skin was surprisingly perfect for someone who has been traveling and fighting for such a long time, a perfect dark tan, and unblemished except for what was under the healing ointment. He couldn't see any of the scars yet, but soon he would.

It was several long minutes before she began to stir. She yawned, and made to sit up before she remembered her ointment and lay back down. She glanced over to him. "Don't you ever sleep?" she asked irritably. He didn't answer, he didn't need to answer to her. She turned her head, and he saw a trace of a flush creep into her cheeks.

Awhile later, a servant came in, deposited Katara's meal on the ground by her cot, and came over to inform him that Uncle wished to eat breakfast with him. "Fine," he replied. He began to leave the room, but turned and said to Katara, "Don't ruin your ointment."

He arrived in the dining hall to find Uncle Iroh waiting for him. "Ah, Prince Zuko," he said in his slow, heavily accented voice. "Sit, sit. Where have you been all morning?" He glanced out the porthole to see that it was late morning.

"With the prisoner," he replied, sitting down.

"Which prisoner?" asked Iroh.

"The girl…" he said slowly. "Why?" Iroh smirked and shook his head. "What?" he asked insistently.

"You seem to care about her well-being quite a lot," Iroh said. "You stayed up almost all night watching her instead of delegating the task to a servant."

"Uncle!" Zuko interrupted indignantly. "What are you saying?"

"Well, she _is_ very pretty," he began. "And boys your age may feel some--"

"Uncle!" Zuko repeated sharply. "I do not have… _feelings_" he pronounced the word as if it were a disgusting swear word, "for this girl! She has to stay intact or the Avatar will escape."

"Of course, of course," replied Iroh disbelievingly, sipping his tea. Zuko glared at him a moment before taking a bite of a starfruit. He was humiliated… _I don't like her, why would Uncle think anything like that?_ he thought. _I don't dislike her, though,_ he thought… He finished his starfruit and drained his glass of tea, standing up. "Lieutenant Wei is waiting to train with you," Iroh said to him.

"Thank you, Uncle," Zuko replied, and he left the dining hall, barking at a servant to clear up his uneaten food and plates. He walked out on deck, and he found the Lieutenant waiting for him.

"Lieutenant," he acknowledged the Lieutenant as politely as he would ever be.

"Prince Zuko," Wei said in return, bowing slightly. "Today General Iroh has ordered that you learn the advanced sets."

"The advanced sets?" asked Zuko, taken aback but pleased all the same. "I thought Uncle didn't think I was ready for them?"

"He wishes for you to learn them, he told me expressly," he said. Zuko nodded, and Wei began the exercises. "I will be guarding the targets. You will be graded on how quickly and efficiently you can hit them, and how little damage you sustain throughout the test."

They were in the advanced set for a reason… they were very difficult. Zuko lunged forward, fire shooting out of his feet making a beeline for Wei, but he leapt into the air and sent a tongue of flames hurtling at Zuko. Zuko dodged it and took it in his own hand and pulled it behind him, Wei still clinging to the other end. In midair, it vanished and Wei landed cleanly on the ground. He leapt forward, landing with his feet about two feet apart, shooting flames just as Zuko had and a fireball with his hands. Zuko put out the fireball with his forearms and dodged the flames by pulling his feet close together. Expecting this, Wei shot another tongue of flame between the other two. Zuko dodged it, but he then realized that he could not waste time taking out Wei before he hit the four targets waiting for him. He aimed a fire blast at one target, Wei blasted fire at the ground, propelling himself upward to defend the target, and, taking advantage of this, he aimed two fireballs at the two far targets and they burst into flames.

About fifteen minutes and many fire blasts later Zuko had finally gotten all the targets. Zuko and Wei were both sweating and panting. "Very well done for your first time," Wei panted, sitting down and motioning for Zuko to sit down in front of him. "Once you aimed attacks at the targets you get them quickly, and it was very smart to send me to one target and attack another. But there is definitely room for improvement. You wasted time trying to take me out before you even started on the targets, and you left yourself open to attack while you were taking out the targets." He glanced at the sun, now high in the sky. "We will run it again after lunch, shall we?"

They had lunch and again began training. Zuko had almost completely forgotten about Uncle's jibe that morning until he went to meditate with him. "Did you have a good time training?" he asked.

"Yes, Uncle," he said, sitting down, cross-legged in front of his candles. He closed his eyes and laid his hands on his knees, lighting the candles. He was just clearing his mind of everything, but Uncle said, "It is time to remove Katara's ointment." Katara's image came into his mind's eye, and the flames on the candles flickered higher. He opened his eyes and put out the candles.

"So?" he asked, knowing what Uncle might say if he offered to help.

"I wish for you to do it," he said in a business-like tone, although his eyes were twinkling with mischief. "It is a humbling experience, catering to the needs of others. And for you there may be some further… benefits."

"Fine," Zuko said scathingly. Uncle pressed a bunch of towels into his hands, and he left, after bowing respectfully to his uncle. As he followed the winding passageway he wondered vaguely why Uncle was so persistent in his insinuations that he had feelings for Katara. _I am spending more time than usual with her than other prisoners,_ he thought. _Well, that's Uncle for you._

He opened the door to see Katara shoot her water at the wall. "Great! I was going to drink that!" she said.

"Then why were you flying it around the room?" he replied, earning himself an eye roll from Katara.

"So why have you come?" she asked.

"If you _must_ know, my Uncle told me to," he said. He breathed in sharply, Uncle's words coming to his mind again. His thoughts were interrupted when she said, "I have some questions. So he answered her questions… all of them… she asked about showers once, and he knew he had to let her use his. He shuddered to think what Uncle would say about _that._

"But... why yours?" she asked. He sighed and began to explain.

"...you would be putting yourself at risk even being down there, let alone showering there," he finished.

"Thank you," was all she said. She sounded genuine. He forced himself not to look up, or respond too strongly. He nodded, in the silence after that, those two words were still ringing in his head. "Um," she said, it sounded faint, as if coming from a long distance away. He didn't realize that she was talking to him for several moments, and looked up. "Two months is… a while to be on this ship. I was just thinking…" Pause.

"Spit it out!" he said crossly. He could tell he'd made her angry.

"I was just thinking that we could be friends!" she said. His eyes widened a fraction of an inch, and she blushed furiously. "Or at least be civil to each other," she added hastily. "I accept that I can't escape with Appa tied up until we get to land, which will probably be a while from now." He continued to stare. This was a very interesting idea. He couldn't believe she'd suggested it… but it wasn't so bad. Before he captured the Avatar he didn't have a problem with her, because she had never had a chance to stand in his way. And on the ship… he didn't dislike her, that much was certain. She wasn't nearly as annoying as the Water peasant or the Avatar, and not as mean as the Earthbender. It was a good idea, he thought as he stared at her. She was staring back… he found he couldn't look away.

"I suppose we could be respectful of each other," he replied, choosing his words carefully. "But…why?" he asked without thinking. He elaborated hastily, "I thought you'd want to see as little of me as possible."

"I thought that, too," she replied truthfully. "But I might as well have no enemies on this ship. At least none who will go out of their way to verbally slander me, anyway." He almost smiled. Almost was as close as he ever got.

"It's time to take off your ointment," he said, only just remembering. He crawled toward her, taking two with him. He studied her face; she looked apprehensive, and he could understand why. "Are you ready?"

"Yes," she replied after inhaling deeply. He nodded, and began to wipe away the ointment. As it was revealed, he could feel his empathy for her mounting… it was a horrible burn. He chanced a look at her face. She looked afraid in a way… but more resigned to the worst. When he was done, she reached up to touch it, and looked at him. "Are you okay?" he asked, with genuine concern. She smiled. It was more of a peaceful smile than a happy smile, but it was beautiful, and warmed a place in his heart he didn't even know he had.

"I'm perfect."

A/N: I was seriously thinking about calling this chapter 'I'm Perfect', but I just couldn't bring myself to be that cheesy! 8D So, again, thanks for the really, really great reviews, they always make me want to write more! I'm going to do something different this time, though. I'll post again in one week, because the story has changed so much from the original story that I will have to just delete the chapter and rewrite it, and I'm usually not done by the time I get five reviews. And school is starting so there'll be complications with that. But never fear! I will post again, and, in the mean time, please R&R!

--S W e e T R e B e L L i o N


	4. Dreams

Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN AVATAR. There! I said it! Happy?

**Chapter 4: Dreams**

-Katara-

Three nights after she had finally removed her ointment, Katara lay awake on her cot. She hadn't seen much of Zuko lately, he had been training hard and had otherengagements as far as ordering the crew around, but when he did come in it was surprisingly pleasant. He was easy to talk to, and he was actually sticking to his promise to be nice to her. But he was very guarded about what he did talk about, and he made sure to never reveal too much.

She was trying to go to sleep, but it seemed that all that had happened for the past several days she had witnessed as if away from her own mind and body and emotions. And finally, after all the panic and frenzy was over, it had sunk in. She was stuck on a ship, _Aang_ was stuck on the ship of his worst enemy, there was no one on the outside to rescue them, not even Appa, and she had no idea where Aang or any of the others were, not even Momo. There was virtually no chance at all of them escaping before they got to the Fire Nation, at which point there would surely be armies of Firebenders waiting to receive them.

But other, more familiar issues had come back to haunt her as well. Aunt Wu's prediction had been blown completely out of her thoughts after being captured, lost in a whirwind of more pressing matters. But thinking about it again she closed her eyes tight and reluctantly fell into a shallow sleep.

_Aunt Wu was chasing her around with a stick. She didn't know why she was there, or how she got there, or why Aunt Wu was so mad. She dashed madly for the door and wrenched it open to find herself in an open stretch of grass. She ran forward, trying to find a way out of her misery. Fog was gathering and it was hard for her to see, hard for her to breathe…_

_She tripped and fell, hard. When she got back up, she wanted to keep running but found she could not. An invisible barrier had appeared around her. She couldn't move… finally, a figure appeared in the impenetrable fog. Aang, bleeding out of several wounds and gashes, hobbled forward. 'Katara, why didn't you protect me?' he asked in desperation. She wanted to run to him, wanted to cry out, 'I tried, Aang!' But she couldn't move, couldn't speak. 'Why, Katara? Why? Why…' he collapsed to his knees and onto the ground. The light behind his eyes faded, until his mutilated body stared her down through glazed eyes. Her mother appeared behind him, her blue eyes crying as she too fell to the ground, her body broken, her eyes dead._

_Her screams clouded her brain, but did not escape her lips. The scent of death came off Aang in tidal waves, the air reeked of it. All hope of peace was gone, and somehow it was her fault… whatever had killed Aang and her mother, she had been wasting time running instead of saving them... Suddenly she couldn't breathe. The walls were closing in. She could feel life leaving her body, and the last thing she'd ever see was her mother's mutilated body, the last thing she'd ever hear was Aang blaming her with his last breath…_

_But then, Zuko appeared, back to her, as a shining ray of hope. Her mouth worked furiously as she screamed his name, but no sound came out. He began to turn, agonizingly slowly to view her. He walked slowly towards her and stopped just short of her and surveyed her with cold eyes. 'Help me,' she whispered desperately. She lifted a shaking hand, fighting for conciousness. He lifted his hand, and she had just he most fleeting sensation of his fingertips grazing hers before an icy wind swept through. His image blew away like smoke in the wind, but her mother's and Aang's figures remained, boring into her as her vision went dark… and as all turned to blackness, even Aang faded, her mother remained…_

"Katara!" a voice sounded. "Katara!" She sat bolt upright, breathing as if she had just run a marathon, drenched in cold sweat. She saw Zuko staring at her, concern blazing in his usually emotionless eyes.

"Zuko?" she asked. He had been blown away… was he really here? He nodded slowly. She reached up to touch his cheek, and he did not go away. She drew back her hand. "Aang… he's still alive?"

"Yes," he said. "It was all just a bad dream. You're okay now."

"But it wasn't," she whispered. "My mother… she's still dead. That part wasn't a dream." She drew a long, shaky breath.

"Do you want to tell me about your dream?" Zuko asked slowly. She closed her eyes and shook her head vehemently. "It will make you feel better," he urged. She opened her eyes and stared into his eyes. For a moment she was surprised he was actually looking at her. He usually didn't make eye contact with her when he spoke to her. Drawing strength from his unfailing gaze, she took another deep breath and began.

"The first part was stupid, just a fortune teller chasing me with a stick," she began. "But I ran through a door and I was in a field. I ran through that, too, but I tripped. When I got up, I couldn't run anymore. And then…" she gulped. "And then Aang came through the fog. He was wounded, and he asked me why I didn't protect him… and I couldn't speak, or go up to him. He died… right in front of my face. Then my mother came… she didn't say anything, but she was wounded and crying… and she died, too." Her throat convulsed involuntarily. "I could _smell_ them," she whispered. "And then I couldn't breathe… and you came. I couldn't call your name, but you came anyway. And then…" she didn't mention their touching hands, "you were blown away in the wind. And all I could see was my mother until you woke me up." She felt as if a poison was being extracted from her body as she retold this… like if she told someone, it wasn't hers anymore, and it couldn't hurt her.

"Katara…" Zuko said. "It was just a dream." She wanted to leap to her feet and scream it was much, much more than a dream, that if her mother was still dead it means it was real… but he was right. It _was_ just a dream.

"You're right," she said, deflating. "But it seemed so real… and seeing all my worst fears right in front of my eyes…" she stopped. She was saying too much. It was then that she realized he was holding her hand. He seemed to notice, too, because he let go and they both looked away. "What time is it?" she asked after she had gotten the courage to look back at him.

"After midnight," he said. "Why?" She paused. She really, _really_ needed to get out of this room, but would he allow her to?

"Can I go up on deck?" she asked. He paused and she took advantage of his silence. "Please?" she implored him. More indecisive silence, and then—

"Okay," he said slowly. He stood up, and she threw off her covers and followed suit. He led her wordlessly out of her room, and through a long series of winding passage ways. Left, right, right, left again, she tried to remember it all, but there were too many, and they all looked exactly the same. Cold, bleak, iron.

But they came out on deck. She took a grateful breath of fresh air, and found it so much sweeter than she thought it would be. She had gotten used to the smoke trapped in the air down below from one angry outburst too many.

It was very dark. The moon lit everything in a dim silver light, but there were no stars in the sky that night. There were glimmers of lights from a city far into the distance, but they helped very little. Almost as soon as they came out on deck, it began raining. She didn't really mind. She _did_ grow up in the North Pole. She lifted her face to the rain and let the drops stream off her cheeks and forehead, into her hair. And then, almost without thinking, she began to bend them into an umbrella, shielding her from the rain. She took that and formed it into a water whip. She found herself shifting through the stances of all the moves she knew. She used to do that back home when everything would begin to overwhelm her… it was calming, just do go through the familiar steps. It helped her realize that even though everything was hectic and nothing seemed familiar anymore, she was still with the same people, people who loved her, and nothing would change that. It was no different now.

"Waterbending isn't so different from Firebending," she said abruptly. She dropped the water with a splash. "You use your breath and your energy to conjure and control your fire. We do the same thing, but we work with what is already there. That's how all the elements are connected, that's why there must be peace." She wandered over to the front of the boat and leaned on the railing. It took a while for her to realize that Zuko was next to her, staring into the sea. She wondered whether or not to ask him why he so avidly searched for Aang. But she didn't. She knew it would upset him. But he looked troubled, anyway. "What's the matter?" she asked.

"Nothing," he said. "It's just…" he hesitated. "I don't know… I mean… it's not my fault if… is it?" She blinked in response, having no idea how to answer. "Never mind," he said. "I should probably take you back, now."

She sighed. She hoped that maybe he trusted her enough to tell her something more. "I guess," she said sullenly. He led her silently back to her room. On their way, she had to ask, "Zuko… Aang and Sokka and Toph… they're okay, aren't they?" She didn't think they were hurt. Aang he couldn't kill because then he'd be on the search for him again. Sokka and Toph were bargaining chips, at the very least. But, also, she didn't think that he would hurt them… she believed that he did have some mercy.

"They're fine," he replied, stealing a sidelong glance at her. He wasn't lying, she could tell. As she walked back into her room, she could've sworn that his hand brushed hers, ever so slightly. Her stomach swooped, and, blushing, she hurried in and buried herself under her covers, pretending to go to sleep.

-Zuko-

Zuko sat in his room, playing with Katara's necklace. He wondered what it meant to her, whether or not he should give it back. She would certainly be happy to have it back, he knew it. When he saw her she would periodically reach up to her neck as if to grip the pendant. It was a pretty necklace, yes, but as far as necklaces go, it was relatively plain. Not that he cared, anyway.

He thought that, but he found he didn't quite believe it. He had been thinking about Katara more and more over the past few days. He had been distracted in training and in meditation, he couldn't concentrate on clearing his mind. He knew he cared about her more than he should, after all, she was just a prisoner. He sighed. He could hear her calling his name, very faintly. Great, now he was hearing voices in his head.

But he straightened up, listening hard. Was he hearing voices? She wasn't just saying his name. 'Zuko… Zuko, no! Zuko!' That was an odd thing to hear in one's head. He could hear thrashing from the direction of her room. He stood up and put the necklace down on the foot of his bed. He hurried to her room. Her screams became louder, and he broke into a run. When he arrived at her room, he saw that she was asleep, struggling and thrashing, and shouting his name.

He knelt by her side and reached for her hand without thinking. "Katara," he said. "Katara!" She stopped thrashing and sat up very suddenly. He squeezed her hand slightly and stared at her.

"Zuko?" she asked. He nodded. She reached up with her other hand to touch his cheek. His breath caught in his throat and his stomach turned over. She lowered her hand and he let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. "Aang… he's still alive?"

"Yes, it was all just a bad dream," he said. "You're okay now."

"But it wasn't. My mother… she's still dead. That part wasn't a dream," she said. His eyes darkened with concern. Her mother was dead?

"Do you want to tell me about your dream?" he asked carefully. She squeezed her eyes closed and shook her head. "It will make you feel better," he insisted. She stared at him for a long moment. Her eyes were very blue… they were wide and scared, but still beautiful. _Stop! You shouldn't be thinking such treacherous thoughts!_ he scolded himself. Conveniently, she began to retell the dream and gave him something to distract himself with.

"Katara…" he said after she was finished. "It was just a dream." Her eyes blazed with defiance for a moment, but then she seemed to deflate in front of his eyes, all the fight in her gone.

"You're right," she agreed heavily. "But it seemed so real… and seeing all my worst fears right in front of my eyes…" she stopped abruptly and Zuko realized at the same time she did that he was still holding her hand. He let go quickly and they looked away for a moment. His face grew hot and he took a moment to recover himself before looking back at her. She was still a little pink when she said, "What time is it?"

"After midnight," he said. "Why?"

"Can I go up on deck? _Please?_" she asked. He pondered this. It couldn't hurt, she couldn't escape anymore, and if she tried to fight him, he had a whole ship full of Firebenders to help him. But he knew she wouldn't do that.

"Okay," he said, standing up. She sprang up and followed him up to the deck. When they went outside, she inhaled deeply, as if for the first time in days, and it began to rain. She didn't do anything to stop the drops from hitting her, in fact, she lifted her face to the sky and let the rain drench her. And she began to Bend the raindrops. He just watched her as she shifted fluidly through the stances. Muscles slid smoothly beneath chestnut-colored skin as she Bended the water into whips, shields, and balls. He found himself entranced by her movements, and her face… her face was lit up with joy that he had never seen before. Maybe he should take her up more often.

"Waterbending isn't so different from Firebending," she said suddenly, abandoning her Bending. "You use your breath and your energy to conjure and control your fire. We do ythe same thing, but we work with what is already there. That's how all the elements are connected, that's why there must be peace." She walked to the railing, and he followed her, leaning on it beside her. He was too busy with his thoughts even to look at her. He was, yet again, questioning his resolve. Would capturing the Avatar really be for the greater good? Did he really not care about the welfare of the world? Was his honor really more important than that? He was silent, buried in his heavy thoughts until she interrupted him. "What's the matter?" she asked. Her tone wasn't demanding or abrasive… there was just curiosity there.

"Nothing," he said. "It's just…" he hesitated, not knowing what to say. "I don't know… I mean…" Should he tell her? "It's not my fault if… is it?" She blinked. He was so distracted his last statement hadn't made any sense. "Never mind," he said. "I should probably take her back now."

"I guess," she sighed. He led her back to her room, but on the way she asked, "Zuko… Aang and Sokka and Toph… they're okay, aren't they?"

"They're fine," he replied honestly. He glanced at her, and found her looking back at him. He felt his face grow hot and looked back ahead. When they got to her room, she looked upset. He was seized by the sudden urge to take her hand again, and stopped himself a split second too late. His hand brushed hers, and he caught a glimpse of her face going red before she got back in bed.

A/N: I am so so so so SO sorry for this being so late! I really tried, but school is just eating me alive and I'm always busy on weekends. So, 2 weeks for the next one AT MOST, but I'll really, really try to update in one! I owe you guys a bunch of cookies! But anyway, that's my chapter for today, and I hope you like it! It was quite a bit longer than the others, not including the author's note it was something like 2800+ words! So R&R, and I'll try to update soon! (psst Aang just might be in the next chapter, but you didn't hear it from me!)

--S W e e T R e B e L L i o N


	5. Rules are Made to be Broken I

( this chapter has been dis.claimed )

**Chapter 5: Rules are Made to be Broken I **

-Katara-

Katara was leaning against the wall of her prison. She was getting bored, again. For a while now she had done nothing other than see Zuko from time to time, take showers, eat, sleep, and lounge around in her room. Although she wasn't abused or anything, it was difficult to keep herself entertained anymore.

But it was about to change, she knew this from the muted call from above deck. "Land, ho!" someone called, and there was cheering. She sat up straight, listening hard. Now all they were doing was celebrating and yelling. She slouched down again. She would simply have to wait for Zuko to come and ask her to go off the ship for once. Not that he would. She'd have to ask him. Why she thought of the former, she had no idea.

Several seconds passed and the celebrating died down at the sound of someone shouting, orders probably. And the normal buzz of activity from on deck. Katara grumbled. A while passed, and Zuko came in. She was sitting cross-legged in a corner, staring a hole in the ceiling. "Hi," he began awkwardly.

She glanced up, surprised. Usually he just came in and sat down, waiting for her to say something. "Hi," she answered.

"I was wondering…" he began again, but broke off. He was staring at the floor, and gripping and re-gripping his hands behind his back. He looked very apprehensive. She furrowed her brows in confusion. When he didn't go on, she prompted, "Wondering…"

"We're in an Earthbending city," he said unnecessarily.

"I know," she said.

"You do? Umm, good," he said. "Well then, remember when you asked to get new clothes when we got to land?... Well, there's a market nearby and I was wondering if you wanted to go there…?"

She could've laughed out loud. She had thought it was something really bad that he was so reluctant to ask! "Yes!" she cried fervently. "Finally!" He smiled a little bit, and she tried to hide her surprise. Zuko _never_ smiled. But in the blink of an eye it was back to his usual scowl.

"Come with me then, and don't try anything," he said, leading her out of her room. She smiled, too. He was clearly much more comfortable feeling in control.

When they reached the deck, it was a beautiful day. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, and she blinked at the sun blazing overhead. She was really losing track of time. She thought it was morning, but the sun told her it was noon. She could've gone to sleep in the middle of the night. But that didn't matter then. The city they had stopped in was unrecognizable to her, but of course, she wouldn't know any Earthbending cities by sight other than Ba Sing Se and Omashu. Vendors lined the streets, loud, extravagant signs advertising their wares, and even the occasional street performer. The streets were busy with people, and Katara caught snatches of their conversation as they walked by.

"Mommy, can I _pleeeaase_ get that?" "Come one, come all, to see the amazing Ling!" "Ooh, look, only two gold pieces!" "June! You come back here this instant!"

She followed Zuko down the gangplank, happily letting the varied conversations of other people wash over her. When they reached the bottom, Zuko said, "So, should we just walk around a bit?"

"Sure," she shrugged. So they set off into the heart of the crowds. They passed through mostly unnoticed, although some people veered off in the opposite direction when they saw Zuko. Some just stared at him, dumbstruck. It seemed to make him feel self-conscious rather than proud and arrogant as it usually did. Or maybe it always made him uncomfortable. She hadn't actually seen him going through a crowd before unless he was searching adamantly for Aang, and not really trying to blend in.

She felt a little bit awkward beside him, but she relaxed soon. There was a booth where a positive crowd had gathered. She touched Zuko's arm to stop him. "Let's see this one," she trader was selling jewelry, and they approached it. "These are amazing!" Katara whispered, elated. She could even hear Zuko's intake of breath at the sight of the trader's wares. Fantastic necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and more were laid out beautifully in glass cases. Gold, silver, and gems glinted up at them, shining merrily in the sunlight. There was everything from simple silver chains for 5 copper pieces to great golden rings set with fabulous gems (price on request, she shuddered to think what it could be).

But there were also trinkets from other nations. There were quite few from the Water Tribes, but her eyes were fixed on one. It was by no means the most magnificent of the stock from the Water Tribes, but it was the most beautiful in Katara's eyes. It was just a silver chain with a silver pendant on the end. The pendant was molded into an indistinct shape, long and rippled, like water turned solid. It wasn't too expensive, although if she were still traveling with Aang and Sokka, it would be far beyond their measly budget, even if they went hungry.

The trader noticed. "Ya like this li'l number, do ya?" he asked. She didn't like his voice. It was self-satisfied and sleazy. It matched his look, as well, he looked like he hadn't had a good wash in a while, and his belly protruded unflatteringly from his expensive clothing, as if he ate well from his profits. He had long, greasy hair, and was going bald. His eyes were calculating and beady, and his smile didn't reach them. She nodded shortly. "Well, ya wanna try it on?" Out of habit, she looked to Zuko for approval. He nodded.

"Okay," she said. He fumbled with the lock on the glass case, and removed the piece with surprising delicacy. He handed it to her and she put it on. There was a mirror on the table, and she stood back slightly to admire her reflection. She liked the way the silver contrasted with the color of her skin. "So… do you like it?" she asked Zuko.

"It is pretty," he admitted. She sighed. She knew she couldn't have it. Reluctantly, she took it off and handed it to the trader.

"Sure ya don' wan' it?" the trader asked, clearly disappointed.

"I'm sure," she said firmly, but as they left the booth, she cast one last longing look at it as they left. But she put it out of her mind as they visited other booths. They were able to distract her well enough. There were places selling exotic animals, gourmet and not-so-gourmet food, watches, jewelry, clothing (they stopped at these, but wanted to find a place where Katara could try things on), children's toys, vibrant cloths, and even some people as sleazy as the jewelry merchant trying to sell fake Bending scrolls at ridiculous prices.

At long last they found a store that was there permanently, not just a tent set up by a trader. They walked in. The shop was dimly lit and seemingly deserted. "Hello?" Katara called. "Is anyone here?"

A very short, squat woman came rushing down the stairs. She was clad in a black dress and lots of heavy silver necklaces and bracelets. Two long earrings hung from her ears, and her graying hair was drawn back in a messy bun. Her fingernails were long, red, and pointy, and her heavily made up face looked annoyed. "Out! Get out, can't you see we're closed!" She rushed up to them and began to chivvy them out. They just stood there blinking at each other in absolute bewilderment. The woman was now pushing on the smalls of Zuko's back, trying to force him out of the store. Zuko towered about two feet above her head. It was a sight to behold. But their blank moment cost them dearly. "Are you two deaf, or are you just stupid!" the lady shouted. "The store is closed, now get _out!_"

"Could you tell us where there's another place we can buy something for her, then?" Zuko asked, frustrated. Katara simply found her funney, and hastily had to turn her giggle into a cough.

"You have come to buy?" the woman asked, her brown eyes suddenly getting as round as moons.

"Why else would we be here?" asked Zuko in exasperation.

"Ah, then welcome!" the woman replied, ignoring Zuko's question. "Madame Zhang does not like the trading days, too crowded for me, and no one ever comes in to buy, only to ask where other booths are, pah!" A bitter look crossed her face, but it cleared in a moment. "So, you say you need new clothes for the girl?" The question was directed at Zuko, but she surveyed Katara with beady eyes.

"Katara, yes," he replied, looking at Madame Zhang with distaste.

"Katara," Madame Zhang said with a warm expression. "A beautiful name." Suddenly, she was all business. "You do need new clothes! A worse appearance I have never seen, no offense, dear. What have you been doing with her?" Without waiting for an answer Zuko wasn't going to give, she took Katara's hand and marched her off to a clear space in the cluttered store where she began to take Katara's measurements.

"Where will you be wearing the garment, and in what weather?" she asked bossily.

"Umm…" Katara said, stealing a sideward glance at Zuko. "I am traveling to the South Pole, so I won't be doing anything too exciting, and it'll need to be able to withstand cold weather. But could I have something for the summer, too? I'll be spending the summer in Ba Sing Se, so I'll need something for warm weather, too." She was surprised how smoothly the lie slipped off her tongue.

"Okay, one for summer, one for winter, both tough," she finished recording the measurements and stood back to examine Katara again. Katara wondered how she knew they should be durable. "You are from the Water Tribe, yes?" Katara nodded. "I thought so," she continued. "I'll be right back." And she rocketed off, bustling among racks and pulling this and that off of them. Zuko scowled at her retreating back.

"You don't like her?" she asked in a low voice.

"Not really," he said back.

"I think she's hilarious!" Katara smiled.

"In a manner of speaking," he mumbled. "If you like freaks." Katara laughed and hastily turned it into a cough as Madame Zhang returned, arms laden with outfits.

"Here, dear," she said, handing her one. "Hold it up to your figure, dear, Madame will tell you if it is for you or not…" Katara did. She liked it, but Madame Zhang whipped it away. "No, no, no, it won't do!" she said.

"I like it," Katara said offhandedly.

"You hear the people who say the customer is always right?" Madame Zhang asked sweetly.

"Yes…" Katara said.

"Well they are lying!" she shouted. "Madame _Zhang_ is always right, customer doesn't know what he talks about." Katara's eyes widened, and she started to laugh out loud. Even Zuko smiled grudgingly. "Madame does not like people to look bad in her clothes, so even though you don't need to be fitted, Madame likes to inspect you before she lets you leave," Madame Zhang went on. They could tell she was pleased by their reaction, but wasn't going to show it.

After a while, Madame Zhang narrowed it down to two. "Now customer says if she likes," Madame instructed. "You go in and try on clothes. If you don't like, you leave. If you do, you buy and then you leave. Madame can tell you which ones you can't buy, but she can't make you buy the ones you can! Now shoo!" She chivvied Katara into the dressing room.

Katara retreated into the dressing room, and when she came out, Zuko wasn't there. "Where's Zuko?" she asked Madame Zhang uncertainly.

"He said he'd be right back," Madame Zhang swatted away the question in irritation. "You look beautiful darling, simply beautiful!"

"Uh… thanks," she said. As much as she liked Madame Zhang, she would've liked better to hear the praise from Zuko. She tried feebly to deny it, but gave up. She put it out of her mind, although she knew it would come back later.

"Why do you travel with Fire Nation prince?" Madame Zhang asked abruptly. Katara opened her mouth as if to deny that he was indeed the Fire Nation prince, but Madame Zhang cut across her. "Yes, yes, I know who he is. My eyes have seen his before, but in the face of his father." Her eyes widened dramatically. "Madame has taken a liking to you, Katara of the Water Tribe, and I warn you once and once alone, be careful to not let your path cross with his, or else more death and chaos than you have already experienced in your future wait. He is a dangerous man." Her eyes darkened. "You would do well not to follow him."

Katara didn't know what to say. She knew Zuko was dangerous. She knew he'd done some things he'd regretted, even if he hadn't told her. But she found she didn't want to believe that he was really a bad person. They stood in silence for a while until Madame Zhang flung the other garment at Katara vehemently. "What are you waiting for, try it on!"

She went back into the dressing room to put it on. When she came back out, she cheered up to see that Zuko was back. "How do I look?" she asked.

"You'll look better with this," he said, and he held out the necklace that she had coveted so.

"No way!" she exclaimed, unable to disguise how pleased she was. "But… it was so expensive!" She knew it was a stupid remark the moment it escaped her lips. And she was all the more aware of it when a tiny smile spread honey-slow across Zuko's lips.

"For a guide to the Avatar, yes," he said, amused. "But not for me."

"I couldn't," she said, trying to give it back. But he closed her hand around it with both of his. Warmth shot through her entire body, to the very tips of her toes.

"It's yours," he said firmly. Somewhat less than reluctantly, Katara put it on. She loved it. It was made for her, literally. Water Tribe jewelers were always thinking about what colors, lengths, and shapes, complimented a Waterbenders body the best. "Now… you look beautiful." Katara smiled, and felt as if she could fly. She allowed herself a few happy seconds of this before firmly grounding herself, and trying to ignore her newfound weightlessness. "We'll take them both," Zuko said to Madame Zhang, traces of his usual business-like manner returning.

"As you wish," said Madame Zhang softly, looking at Katara with thinly veiled disappointment. Her voice fostered just the slightest hint of coolness, and was calmer and less eccentric and angry than her usual tone. Katara got the impression that she could see just how Zuko's every compliment made her feel, that she could see how she was ignoring her instincts. And this disappointed her.

As they left, she said only, "Remember what I said, Katara. I wish upon you no wrong-doing… but if you do not listen to old Madame Zhang, I am afraid that is what you will find." She ended this blessing with a long, expressionless look at Zuko. No, not expressionless. She could tell that there was something going on behind her carefully constructed mask of indifference, but it was far too cryptic to figure out. And then, the door was shut with a tinkling of a bell, and Madame Zhang was gone.

As they made their way back, Zuko asked her, "What did she say to you?" She gave him a long look. He looked and sounded curious, but not prying or intrusive. It was no skin off his nose if she wouldn't tell him, so she told him anyway, not wishing to keep it a secret from him.

"She told me to watch my back while I'm around you," she said, her tone giving away nothing. "She said that you are a dangerous person. And she implied that you could not be trusted."

There was a long pause. Zuko's expression closed, and Katara got the distinct impression that this was said about him a lot. And that although he appeared to shrug it off, it did touch him in a way nobody could understand. "And what do you think?" he asked finally.

"I think…" she stopped, realizing she had nothing to say. But after a thought, she knew exactly what to say, and found she supported it wholeheartedly. "I think that you've made mistakes before. And you know it. But I don't think you were ever really bad, and I don't think you are now."

Before she knew it, they were on the ship. But instead of going right for the below deck quarters, he went left and leaned on the railing. She followed him and watched him as he stared intently at the water, gilded by the setting sun. Finally, he sighed and sat. "Sit down," he said. "I have a lot to tell you."

And he did. He told her everything… or it felt that way. He told her how his father never truly appreciated him. He told her about the episode in the war room, and the horrific truth of his scar. He told her how he was sent on the quest for the Avatar, and why he searched so adamantly. He told her how his honor hinged on capturing the Avatar, and he told her how he feared things could never be the same. He told her what seemed like everything.

In truth, he didn't tell her everything. He didn't tell her about his mother. He didn't tell her about his growing disapproval of the war. He didn't tell her how he knew his father sent him on his lonely mission for the sole reason to get him out of the way. He knew that his father would find a way around the laws to who was heir to the throne, and Azula would be the Fire Lady, even though she was not first born, and she was not the male of the family. He didn't tell her how his resolve to complete his mission faded faster every time he saw her. He didn't tell her that he was afraid of what was going on inside his own head, his own body, his own heart…

She thought he told her everything, but he didn't tell her the half of it. But of course, she didn't know all this. Because these were his deepest, darkest secrets that would never be told to anyone. But he told her all she needed to hear.

And she told him things, too. About her mother's death. About her desperate mission. About her father's departure. About Sokka's pain, and about leaving Gran-Gran. She didn't tell him about their plans with the comet. She didn't tell him about the increasing worry she had that they couldn't make it in time. She didn't tell him about her dreams that haunted her through her deepest desires.

Each sat silently through each other's venting. Each thought they were being told the whole story. Each felt guilty that they were only telling half of their story. But now it was midnight, the moon was high in the sky, a sliver less than full. And after a long silence where they mulled over what they had just been told, Katara finally shattered it.

"You're stronger than you know," she said, unusually grave. She knew that everything said that night would never be repeated, that this night would not be talked about for a long time.

"I'm not," he whispered.

"You are," she said. She offered no explanation, because none was needed. She stood up, and ignoring her instincts screaming at her to stop this madness, she offered him her hand. "I should go back now."

He took it and stood up. "Yeah," he said. But neither of them moved. Not consciously, anyway. His face was getting closer to hers, she could feel his breath playing on her cheek and neck, and then, his lips on hers. She could feel his hands on her waist, and all of a sudden she could feel his neck on her hands. She pulled away.

"We can't do this," she whispered. Zuko's face before her was suddenly distorted from the tears in her eyes. She blinked them away, knowing she couldn't hold them back for long. "We can't do this." Zuko's expression closed. And he led her back without a word. But when he left her to her room, he did say one thing to her.

"Good night." He left. She sighed. For a moment, she allowed herself to foster the impossible dream that it could work out. _After all, rules were made to be broken, right?_

But she felt that this rule was just too big to break.

**Author's Note:** Well, the let's-laugh-at-Jen (that's me) moment has come at last. Last chapter I said it was a lot longer than the other chapters when in fact, something like 2 chapters were longer than it! 8D So, take this opportunity to laugh at me, and know there'll be many more! Anyway, I am very proud of myself that I got this chapter in on time (just barely), and I continue to love the reviews that you guys are giving me, so keep 'em coming! I do like this chapter, more than usual anyway, and you'll notice I only did Katara's POV. This is because I like for the POVs to be about the same length, and that would make this chapter a lot longer than all the others (I checked this time!). So Zuko's is coming up next, and I'm going to try to post Chapter 7 within 2 weeks because Chapter 6 will have the same things happening in it, but just in case, 2 weeks for each at the most. So, review please, and I'll see you next time!


	6. Rules are Made to be Broken II

**Disclaimer:** Yeah, for now, the 'owning-Avatar' thing isn't making much progress...

**Chapter 6: Rules are Made to be Broken II**

-Zuko-

Zuko skillfully dodged a fireball from Iroh and launched an attack of his own. Uncle put it out in a long, sweeping motion with his arm and disappeared behind his own attack. Zuko put it out with the same motion as Uncle did, and found the training area in front of him to be deserted. He straightened up, confused, but before he could turn around to look for Uncle, he felt slight pressure on the back of his neck. "Dead," came Uncle's voice from behind him.

He turned around, deflating. "Zuko, I am worried about you," he said, sitting down and patting the ground in front of him. Zuko sat down. "You have not been focusing on your training lately," he continued. "Would you like to tell me what is on your mind?"

Zuko thought about it. He didn't have to think long, though; he knew exactly what was on his mind. Or in this case, who. He had been more and more distracted by Katara lately, and found himself thinking about her when he should be paying attention to whatever he happened to be doing. "There is nothing on my mind, Uncle," he lied. He felt uneasy about lying so blatantly to Uncle… but he wouldn't feel uneasy for long.

"Prince Zuko, I am ashamed of you," he said. His tone gave away nothing. "You are lying to me. I thought I taught you better than that! Now, tell me the truth."

"It's complicated," he began evasively. But Uncle showed no signs of not wanting to know, so he plunged forward, knowing full well that he only had half an idea what he was talking about himself. "It's Katara," he said. Uncle didn't look surprised, in fact, he smiled. "I don't know why… I just can't keep my mind off her."

"And why do you think that is?" asked Uncle.

"I don't know…" he pondered. "She's not like the other prisoners. The Avatar and his other friends either ignore me as completely as possible or will just try to make my life as horrible as possible." He thought for a moment. "Not without reason, I suppose. But Katara… she never really tried to ignore me, and then she asked if we could at least not be at each other's throats for the rest of the voyage."

"This troubles you?"

"No… no, it makes more sense to me than the other prisoners' reactions," he said. "But we've never had a prisoner who did this before. And then when I go talk to her… she's easy to talk to. It feels like I can show her that I'm not just a power-hungry Fire Nation drone." Iroh was silent, apparently knowing Zuko wasn't done. "But… I don't think I should be feeling like this."

"How exactly are you feeling?" asked Uncle, fighting a smile.

"I don't know," he said, but found it wasn't completely true. "I like her, but I shouldn't be making friends with the prisoners. It would be harder to use them like I planned, or hand them over to my father, doing something like that to a friend. And… I'm from the Fire Nation and she's from the Water Tribe, I'm royalty and she's a peasant… We're on opposite sides of the war, it could never work out." He realized how freely he'd let his speech continue, and what he was implying at the end. Uncle smirked, standing up. Zuko stood up too, but wished he had stayed on the ground a split second longer.

"I have always said opposites attract," he said. He made to continue the lesson, but was cut across by a resonating "Land, ho!" from the guy manning the crow's nest. The entire ship broke out in cheers. Zuko opened his mouth to yell at them, but Uncle stopped him.

"They have had precious little to celebrate for two years," he said. "Let them be for a few minutes." Grumbling, Zuko consented, but after a minute or so, he stopped them.

"That's enough!" he yelled. "Captain, pull us in to the dock!" His words were greeted with renewed cheering and a hearty "Yes, sir!" from the captain. "Okay, okay, we're all happy to be on land, but it's no reason to lose our heads!" The crew quieted grudgingly. "Back to your posts!" he called and at his words came a flurry of motion, and then everyone was back at their jobs.

"I will take care of restocking the ship," Uncle said. "In the meantime, I'm sure you wouldn't mind a walk on solid ground. And a certain lady on board may not either." He walked off, sparing Zuko the awkwardness of a reaction.

"Don't buy out the whole village!" he called to Uncle's retreating back, but he didn't react. Zuko thought about what he had said. He _had_ told Katara that they could get her new clothes when they reached land, and he wasn't one to break his promises… He made his way to her room, telling himself firmly that there was absolutely _nothing_ about it that was any more than friendly.

But when he arrived at her room, he found that a lot harder to buy. She was sitting in the corner of her room, staring at the ceiling, but it seemed like she'd been waiting for him, although she didn't initiate conversation. "Hi," he said. She turned her gaze from the ceiling to him, surprise in her eyes.

"Hi," she said.

"I was wondering…" he asked. His mouth went dry and he felt a flush creeping up his face as he looked at her. He quickly turned his gaze to the ground and tried to find the words to ask. _It isn't that hard, just tell her she needs new clothes!_ he told himself.

"Wondering…?"

"We're in an Earthbending city," he said, glad to have something to say without being overcome with embarrassment.

"I know." Great. Now he just sounded stupid.

"You do? Umm, good," he spluttered. He just had to clench his jaw and say it. Steeling himself, he plunged forward, "Well then, remember when you asked to get new clothes when we got to land?... Well, there's a market nearby and I was wondering if you wanted to go there…?" Her expression, which had actually reached concerned, cleared in a moment.

"Yes!" she cried. "Finally!" A wave of relief swept over him. She didn't seem to be bothered by his awkwardness. If he were a different man he may have laughed, but he did smile a bit. Noticing the look of surprise that crossed her face, he quickly arranged it back into a frown again.

"Come with me then," he said. "And don't try anything," he added. He felt better now. In hindsight, it _was_ just telling her to come with him to get her some clothes. But everything seems easier in hindsight. As they walked out of the room, he saw her smiling, and cheered up some more.

As they descended the gangplank, Zuko watched Katara stare around in amazement. He felt slightly guilty that he had kept her locked up for so long… but her amazement with the town wasn't entirely caused by him. Traders had come to the town and set up extravagant booths, selling everything you could think of, and she and her friends must've avoided very crowded places so as not to be seen.

They reached the ground and Zuko asked, "So, should we just walk around a bit?"

"Sure," she said, shrugging, and they set off through the streets. He watched her stare around in awe, and after a while even he stopped watching her and looked around himself. It really was a sight to see, the traders were selling anything and everything you could possibly imagine. They passed a few clothing stands, too, but they didn't have anywhere to try them on.

As they walked through the crowd, some people avoided Zuko. He sighed inwardly. He knew that people who knew of him were afraid of him. In a way he regretted having to be a person to fear just to catch the Avatar, but he knew he had to. Either way, he hunched over very slightly as he continued to walk.

They continued along until Katara spotted a jewelery booth. "Let's see this one," she said, stoppen and laying her hand momentarily on his arm to stop him. Her touch sent a tiny shiver of delight through his arm, and they approached the jewelry stand. The wares were wonderful, indeed, but Zuko never had much interest in jewelry. But the jewelry seemed to entrance Katara. She stared down at them with a mixture of joy and longing on her face. Her gaze slid over the display and landed on a silver necklace from the Water Tribe.

"Ya like this li'l number, do ya?" the query came from the trader, and Zuko looked up at him for the first time. Katara nodded mutely; Zuko could tell she didn't like him very much, and with reason, he didn't look very likable. "Well, ya wanna try it on?" She turned to him questioningly. Zuko felt a pang that she would feel like she had to ask him to just try it on, but nodded anyway.

"Okay," she replied to the trader, and he handed it to her. She fastened it around her neck and turned to Zuko. "So… do you like it?"

It was absolutely beautiful on her. He knew that the person who had made it had made it to look the best on those of the Water heritage, and he had done his job well. But he couldn't give to much away. "It's pretty," he said, and the words sounded abrupt and uneven. He grumbled inwardly, but she didn't seem to have noticed. She gave it back to the trader.

"Sure ya don' wan' it?" he asked in disappointed.

"I'm sure," she said, but he saw her glance back at it as they continued along the street and visited more places.

After a long time, they found a store that wasn't a trader's booth. It appeared to be deserted, so Katara walked up to the door and tapped on the window. "Hello? Is anyone here?" No one answered, so she tried the door. It opened without complaint, and they walked in. A bell tinkled softly as the door closed.

Almost as soon as they walked in, a woman came hurtling down the stairs. She was very short, wearing a black dress and lots of makeup and jewelry. Her hair was drawn up into a bun, and she had an expression of supreme annoyance. "Out! Get out, can't you see we're closed!" She ran up to them and the next thing he knew, the woman was trying to force him out the door. Quite astonished, he turned his head towards Katara, wide-eyed. "Are you two deaf, or are you just stupid! The store is closed, now get _out!"_

His moment of bewilderment past, Zuko regained his cross nature. They'd searched all day for a clothing store in which Katara could actually try on the clothes, and now they were being forced out? "Could you tell us where there's another place we can buy something for her, then?" he asked in exasperation. Katara hacked a fake cough to cover up her giggle.

"You have come to buy?" the woman asked, her eyes widening.

"Why else would we be here?" asked Zuko. _My gosh!_ he thought.

"Ah, then welcome!" the woman replied, ignoring Zuko. "Madame Zhang does not like the trading days, too crowded for me, and no one ever comes in to buy, only to ask where other booths are, pah!" She ended her rant bitterly, then turned to Katara, completely ignoring Zuko again. "So, you say you need new clothes for the girl?" She asked this to Zuko, but didn't even turned to look at her.

"Katara, yes," he replied tartly.

"Katara," Madame Zhang said with a warm expression. "A beautiful name." And then she switched tack at the speed of light. "You do need new clothes! A worse appearance I have never seen, no offense, dear. What have you been doing with her?" Zuko didn't reply, and Madame Zhang didn't wait for one, but went right to measuring Katara. Zuko was beginning to dislike this lady.

"Where will you be wearing the garment, and in what weather?" she asked bossily.

"Umm…" Katara said. "I am traveling to the South Pole, so I won't be doing anything too exciting, and it'll need to be able to withstand cold weather. But could I have something for the summer, too? I'll be spending the summer in Ba Sing Se, so I'll need something for warm weather, too."

"Okay, one for summer, one for winter, both tough," she finished recording the measurements and stood back. Zuko hadn't heard her mention tough… "You are from the Water Tribe, yes?" Katara nodded. "I thought so," she went on. "I'll be right back." And she sped off, among racks and shelves of garments.

"You don't like her?" Katara asked him, and he realized he had been glaring at her.

"Not really," he replied with distaste.

"I think she's hilarious!" Katara said in amusement.

"In a manner of speaking," he murmured, careful not to be too loud. "If you like freaks." Katara laughed as Madame Zhang returned.

"Here, dear," she said, throwing one into Kaktara's arms. "Hold it up to your figure, dear, Madame will tell you if it is for you or not…" Katara did so and Madame Zhang whipped it away. "No, no, no, it won't do!" she said.

"I like it…" Katara said.

"You hear the people who say the customer is always right?" Madame Zhang asked.

"Yes…" Katara said suspiciously.

"Well they are lying!" she shouted. Even Zuko had to suppress a chuckle at this. "Madame _Zhang_ is always right," she continued, putting emphasis on Zhang, "customer doesn't know what he talks about." Katara paused and then began to laugh out loud. Zuko smiled a little as well. "Madame does not like people to look bad in her clothes, so even though you don't need to be fitted, Madame likes to inspect you before she lets you leave," Madame Zhang went on. Zuko knew she liked that they were laughing (or Katara was, anyway) instead of being affronted, but she wouldn't show it.

After a long while, she was finally down to two outfits. "Now customer says if she likes," Madame commanded. "You go in and try on clothes. If you don't like, you leave. If you do, you buy and then you leave. Madame can tell you which ones you can't buy, but she can't make you buy the ones you can! Now shoo!" She pushed Katara into the dressing room.

Zuko stood up. "I'll be back," he said. He began to leave, but was interrupted by excruciating pain in his shin.

"Don't you even think about it," Madame Zhang snapped. He looked down at the ground and saw that she had thrown her tape measure at him.

"What was that for?" he asked in indignation.

"You will not abandon that girl!" she said angrily. "I know who you are, Prince Zuko Fire Nation! She does not know who you are, clearly, or you have brainwashed her!"

"I'll be right back," Zuko said in his most deadly voice, and his temper heightened when Madame Zhang scoffed.

"You'd better be or I will have your head on a platter," she said. Zuko pushed out of the store angrily and set off down the street.

After a few minutes he had reached his destination. The jeweler was still there, and so was Katara's necklace. "I'll take that," he said, pointing to it and handing over the gold.

"Aye, I knew she couldn't resist!" the trader smiled self-satisfiedly. He took the gold pieces and counted them, then handed over the necklace. "Enjoy your day." Zuko took the necklace and hid it carefully in his sleeve. He smiled as he pictured Katara's reaction to the gift. With a pang of guilt, he remembered her other necklace, which he still had. He would have to give that back eventually, too. Maybe when they got back to the ship. He set off back towards Madame Zhang's shop.

When he got back in, Katara had just come out of the dressing room. Madame Zhang's look was bitter, but he ignored her. "How do I look?" asked Katara. For the first time he really looked at her. He knew she was pretty, oh yes, but she looked just beautiful now. She was wearing something that wasn't stained and tattered from travel (and that fit her!), and her hair was washed and neatly braided, and she was smiling. But still, Zuko had to choose his next words carefully.

"You'll look better with this," he said. He removed the silver necklace from his sleeve and handed it to her. She took it, looking awestruck.

"No way!" she gasped. "But… it was so expensive!"

He couldn't suppress a small smirk. "For a guide to the Avatar, yes," he said. "But not for me."

"I couldn't," she said, holding the necklace out for him to take, but he closed her hand around it.

"It's yours," he said. Katara put it on, beaming. He could tell she hadn't really wanted to give it back. It was perfect.

"Now," he said, "you look beautiful." There was a pause while Katara tried to hide how happy she was, and Zuko ended by saying, "We'll take them both," to Madame Zhang.

"As you wish," said Madame Zhang softly. She was giving Katara quite a strange look. He could sense dissatisfaction in it, but he couldn't see why. He chose to ignore it. They paid for the garments and made to leave, but as they did, Madame Zhang said one thing more. "Remember what I said, Katara. I wish upon you no wrong-doing… but if you do not listen to old Madame Zhang I am afraid that is what you will find." And she stared at him. It was an odd look, her expression was closed and her eyes were dark, and again, he couldn't figure out what he had done to merit the look. Then Madame Zhang snapped the door shut and disappeared into her store.

Zuko was still pondering it as they went back to the ship. Finally, he could stand it no longer. "What did she say to you?" he asked. She looked intently at him for a moment before answering.

"She told me to watch my back while I'm around you," she said. "She said that you are a dangerous person. And she implied that you could not be trusted." Zuko's eyes darkened. This was the criticism that just wouldn't go away. While he was on the ship it did… there was no one on the ship who would dare say anything as treacherous. But while he was on land… he saw people shie away from him as if he were a leper. Some days he felt like grabbing them by the shoulders and scream at them that they didn't even come close to understanding, that he wasn't just some thug doing his father's dirty work.

But that's exactly what he was. And that's why he hated being seen as evil and dangerous so much. Because he knew it was true. "And what do you think?" he asked after a time.

"I think…" she began. She paused uneasily, but then pressed on, "I think that you've made mistakes before. And you know it. But I don't think you were ever really bad, and I don't think you are now."

A million thoughts swelled inside him, but he couldn't put any into words. He knew he didn't deserve her sureness that he wasn't really bad, but it was so unexpected and pleasing. He had kept her prisoner, hadn't let her see her friends for so long now, and still she didn't think he was all bad.

And they were on the ship. Zuko had no idea how long they'd been walking, but he knew what he wanted, what he needed to do. He walked over to the front of the boat and leaned on the railing. He steeled himself for what he was about to say. Without knowing it, Katara had provided him with the knowledge that he wasn't alone in the world… something he hadn't had for two years. He had planned exactly what he would say, when the time came, but now that he had a confidant, he found that he couldn't summon up the words. He could feel Katara's presence beside him, her eyes on his face, and it gave him strength.

"Sit down," he began heavily. "I have a lot to tell you." He turned to face her and saw a look of deep discontent and concern in her eyes, but she sat without a word. He sat down in beside her and turned to look at her, beginning the speech that he had so carefully prepared. "I've never told this to anyone before… I'm about to tell you why I hunt the Avatar, and it's a long story. Are you okay with me telling this to you? I don't want to burden you."

Katara was silent for a long time. Her look was distant, and he knew there was something going on inside her head other than deliberation on what to say. "Tell me," she said finally.

"I didn't always have this scar," he began. He didn't begin at the beginning… he had never planned to tell anyone about his mother. He saw Katara's hand slide instinctively to her arm, also scarred by a Firebender's wound. "But this scar is why I've kept fighting for so long. When I was younger, before I was even sent on this mission, I liked to be aware of all things going on in the Fire Nation and in the war. I thought it important, seeing as I was the heir to the throne. And one day the elders and Commander Zhao, then Captain Zhao, were going to discuss war tactics in the War Room.

"When I tried to follow, the guards wouldn't let me in. So I convinced my uncle to go in with me. When we got there, Captain Zhao was suggesting a tactic for fighting an elite battalion of Earthbenders. He said to use the 41st Division—a division of new recruits with little fighting experience. An elder asked how they would defeat the Earthbenders, and Zhao replied that they would serve as a distraction, while a more experienced group of soldiers. He knew that all or most of the 41st would be sacrificed.

"I couldn't stay silent, so I protested. And my father was furious. He said that speaking when not spoken to, and to protest the tactic of someone far more experienced with war than myself at that, was an act of utter disrespect. He told me the only way to resolve this was for me to fight in an Agni Kai. I wasn't afraid to fight Zhao, but the following morning, it was not Zhao who I had to fight. In speaking out in my father's war chamber I had disrespected _him…_"

"And you had to fight your own father," Katara whispered. She had been silent through the entire recollection, but her eyes were wide and horrified. Her hand twitched, but she kept it where it was.

"Yes," Zuko went on. "I didn't want to fight him… I couldn't have… he's my father, I'm not supposed to even have to fight him!... I crouched before him and apologized over and over, but he wouldn't listen. He—he…" Zuko couldn't go on but he didn't need to. Katara moved closer to him, and leaned on his shoulder, letting him know that she was still there.

"You don't have to say it," she whispered.

"I do," he whispered back. "My father is the one who gave me my scar." His voice shuddered and died, and fixed his eyes on Katara's face. And a single tear slid down it. She was crying for _him._ He drew a deep, steadying breath, comforted by her presence. "And then he sent me on my mission. He said that I had lost my honor by refusing to fight and the only way to regain it was to capture the Avatar. But… I've been away so long—I don't even know if things will ever be the same…"

Burning. Burning and itching. Wetness. A strange sensation was happening in his eyes, and it was a moment before he realized that there were tears there. He blinked them back, but Katara didn't bother. "And now you think I'm freakish and depressed," he said, trying to smile. Katara gave a wet giggle.

"No," she said. "I won't. Because I'm just as creepy and broken as you are. My mother died when I was very young, in a Fire Nation raid." Zuko's heart clenched. So this was why she was so attatched to that necklace. He felt a hot surge of guilt as she continued. "Later my father went off to fight in the war. And Sokka wanted so much to go… he was never old enough. His job was always to protect our home. And he tried to do that, but he wanted so much more… I think that's why he came on this mission even though he didn't like Aang at the beginning.

"I guess my mother has made me stronger, having to grow up without her. I'd trade strength in adulthood for a childhood with a mother any day, but it's too late for that now… And leaving Gran-Gran was hard because she was my surrogate mother for so many years.

"This war… I just want it to stop, I just want it to go away. It's torn apart so many people, so many families, and nothing has come of it for 100 years…" There was nothing accusatory in her tone of voice, nothing that might suggest bitterness against him, nothing but a dull sadness. And as she wiped her tears away, he admired her ability to survive.

There was a long silence where each was dissolved in their own thoughts. At some point Katara leaned closer, and they comforted each other where words could not. And finally, Katara stood up. "You're stronger than you know," she told him. Zuko clenched his eyes closed and eased them back open.

"I'm not," he whispered.

"You are," she said simply. And from the look in her eyes and the tone of her voice, he found that he could believe it, when no one else had ever been able to tell him that. She stood and offered her hand. "I should go back now," she said.

Zuko took her hand gratefully. The glow of warmth was still there, but staring into her eyes he couldn't even feel it. "Yeah," he said. He hadn't let go of her hand, and he felt himself pulling her closer, wrapping his arms around her waist. All of a sudden their faces were mere inches apart, and her eyes were blazing with emotions that were all so different, my God she's beautiful… and then their lips were touching and he could feel her kissing back and in a moment he felt himself flying… until she pulled away.

"We can't do this," she breathed, crying. "We can't do this."

It was true. They couldn't do this. But Zuko had finally experienced that high that Katara gave him in its purest form, and he thought for that glorious, fantastic, heart-stopping moment that everything was alright. It was a tantalizingly small slice of how life was supposed to be, and she was saying no more.

And this was pain. This was absolute, consuming, burning, stabbing pain that would never go away. This was being bathed in fire, this was swimming in a pool full of needles, this was being pierced in the heart by a white-hot dagger. _This,_ beyond any wound or battle or loss, was pain.

And all he could do to relieve it, if slightly, was to close himself off. He had let his guard down, let someone worm past his carefully constructed wall, and he payed the price. It could never happen again. He led her back to her room, and meant to leave without a word, but her face made him stay for one last second. "Good night." And good-bye…

**Author's Note:** Okay, so you'll notice I copied all the dialogue from one chapter to the next (plus some more at the end). I meant to do this, because this time they aren't on the same page anymore so I thought it would minimize confusion. I just felt like I was copying a lot though, which is why I am kinda uneasy about this chapter... tell me if you think it's a good idea or not, one POV taking up an entire chapter may happen again.

I'm really sorry it took so long to update this time, but I was too busy over the weekend and it's virtually impossible for me to post during the week. So, I hope you liked it, please review, and I'll _try_ to have something up by Sunday the... 15th? Sunday of next week anyway .

-- S W e e T R e B e L L i o N


	7. Author's Note

Hey guys!

I just wanted to say that I won't be updating for a while. I have a big band thing I need to practice for and lots of finals to study for, so I really don't have time to write. I have no idea when I'll be able to write again, but keep your eyes peeled!

-- S W e e T R e B e L L i o N


	8. Decision Time

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Avatar. But Avatar owns me…. drools

**Chapter 7: Decision Time**

-Katara-

In the days following their landing in the city, Zuko hardly came to see Katara at all. When he did, she had so much to say that she couldn't put into words, and he usually left without a word. Now she had gotten to a point that when the door opened her heart would skip a beat, but when it wasn't Zuko, she would sink back into her sullenness again.

When she was awake, she tried not to think about that night. But sometimes, when she had let her guard down, her mind would stray. In later years, she never figured out who had initiated the kiss. But she knew that she had hurt Zuko by saying no, and she knew that the touch of his lips on hers was the most wonderful feeling she'd had in her life.

But with it came so many consequences that Katara wasn't sure she was ready to deal with. Sokka would never let her be with Zuko; she imagined he'd have trouble letting her be with _anyone._ She and Zuko were fighting for completely different causes, and they could never meet without betraying their locations to the other side. And Aang… she had long suspected that he felt more for her than she felt for him. It was almost impossible to believe that just a few months ago she was deep in her sleeping skin, thinking about the problem with Aang. So much had happened since being captured, it made the time on Zuko's ship seem like an eternity.

She missed Aang, certainly, and Sokka and Toph. Not a day went by that she didn't think about them, wonder how they were being treated, wondering if she'd ever see them again… _How things are looking now,_ Katara thought, _I doubt I ever will._

She missed Zuko, but she knew that it was for the best that they didn't see each other much. She didn't like it, but she knew that they could not let themselves grow together anymore. She tried to forget that night, but her dreams betrayed her, and brought back visions of that night, if she had not interrupted…

She wanted to be friends with him again. She couldn't see the harm in that. But she couldn't talk anymore around him, until the day he came with a surprise.

--- --- ---

The door opened, and Katara looked up. Unusually, she wasn't expecting Zuko to be at the door. But ironically enough, it was Zuko this time. It is a very strange sensation, fighting off your stomach's swoop when you know its coming. Katara experienced it for the first time that day, but of course, one can never really stop these things. "Zuko," she said.

In earlier days, when he would come to her, they would say nothing, or only say hello. But this time he came right over to her cot and dropped something into her blankets. Without really knowing how she knew, she knew what it was. She picked it up and fingered it, the thing she had missed for so long, although her mind was galaxies elsewhere.

"My mother's necklace," she said. Her voice sounded distant, yet full of emotion that neither one of them could describe. For a few minutes, there was silence. And then Katara's eyes seemed to slide back into focus and she said, "But why are you giving it to me?"

"There was something I didn't tell you," he said without looking at her. "Something more important than my honor… something bigger than me." He looked up at her, and she was transfixed, unable to tear from his gaze, but it was so intense that she felt she could hardly go on looking. "I have nothing left of my mother, and if I withheld this from you, you would have nothing, too."

And suddenly, Katara never wanted to look away from him. Her eyes widened. He could only have lost his mother in the war… just like she had. "Thank you," she whispered. She touched his cheek, and to her great surprise, felt wetness there. Zuko was crying. And for some reason… this made him seem so much more human. "Why do we have to do this?" she breathed.

He reached up and enclosed her hand in his, bringing it away from his face. "We have no other choice."

"But what if… what if we could--?"

Zuko interrupted Katara's unfinished query. "We can't. There is no way," he said. "No matter what, we are, and will always be, on different sides of the war. There is no way we could keep meeting each other without giving away our whereabouts to the other side. There is no way we could make it work. We're just too different." His voice had taken on a bitter edge to it by the time he was done.

"We're not so different," Katara said softly. She fastened her mother's presence around her neck. "We share something that is much more important than honor. Something that's bigger than both of us."

"That doesn't change anything."

"There are other ways," she said. "We are on different sides of the war, but does your heart really agree with your mind?" She lifted the necklace Zuko had given her from under her shirt and fingered the pendant. "I was telling the truth… that day." Her breath caught in her throat, and Zuko blinked sadly. This was the first time it was actually, truly mentioned since it happened. "You have made mistakes. I've made mistakes. We've all made mistakes. But…" her voice wavered and died, but she continued bravely, "…I think… I _know…_ that you have enough good in you to… reconcile the mistakes you've made. And I think that… inside… that's what you really want."

"How can you tell what I'm feeling," he said. His voice was low and guttural, but not angry or accusatory.

"I can't," she said with a sad smile. "No one can. But I certainly hope I'm right." Zuko looked indecisive, and with reason. Katara knew that what she was suggesting went against everything he had ever known.

"What am I supposed to do?" Zuko murmured.

"I don't know," Katara said. "Whatever makes you happy." They stayed silent for a long time, both lost in their own thoughts. Katara wondered if what she was saying was really true. There were so many complications. Aang and Sokka, for one. Toph, however… Toph was a different story. _She's a smart girl,_ Katara thought. _She won't need me to tell her. But will she accept it?..._ Katara found she didn't know the answer to that.

But Aang… she dreaded having to tell him anything. Even if she and Zuko had no future together, she knew Aang would tell her sometime. And she would have to tell him that she had never loved him as more than a brother. Even if before it seemed she was putting him on… she had never meant anything by it. Hugs aren't intimate for her. She could hug friends as easily as those she love, be it family members, or people like Zuko. But of course… there had never been anyone in her life as serious as Zuko. Petty crushes, yes, but never anything real. She had experienced sadness before on the behalf of those she has lusted after, but never heartbreak.

But she wondered… _Will I be just sad if Zuko and I can never work out?_

And she wondered why she wasn't crying. With so much confusion going on at this moment, a younger she would've been in tears almost all the time. The old she would have hardly been able to stand it. _But… I'm not who I was,_ Katara thought. And it was true. She was newer, stronger, more exposed. And, she thought, she would be surprised if there were any tears left to cry. Or maybe it came from Zuko being close to her, giving her strength.

"I love you," she said. Immediately she was horrified. She had just voiced something she'd never really justified to herself yet. But she plunged on impulsively. "I… I can't really say why. Maybe it's because you're the worst _possible_ choice for me—" In spite of herself, she gave a wet giggle, "—but… if we end up having to separate, I want you to know that. I have chosen the worst possible person for me, but I have chosen. And… even if we can't be together, even if you don't love me back, I don't want to have to live with myself never having said that." She vaguely recalled how ironic it was that only a little more than a week ago, she was the one saying that it could never happen. But nonetheless, she felt a lot better. Like the weight on her shoulders had, somehow, lessened.

"Go to sleep," he said. This time he had a tone of kindness, and was wearing a tiny smile. She smiled back, and settled into her bed. Suddenly, she became aware that every one of her limbs felt as if they were made of lead, became aware of the utter exhaustion she hadn't noticed before. "Go to sleep, and… I'll be back to talk." She stayed awake long enough to catch look of burden that crossed his face. She was too tired to be fazed, but as she drifted off, she muttered, "I just want you to be happy…"

When she awoke, Zuko was still there. He was staring at the ground, and Katara sat up, rubbing the sleep away from her eyes. She looked at him. She knew he could feel her gaze, but didn't look up. For what felt like forever, they stayed like that, as if frozen in time. "This wasn't supposed to happen," he said finally. Katara just gazed at him. He didn't lift his head, or look at her, but he continued nonetheless. "I finally finished my mission. I had the Avatar, and I had the people the Avatar cares most about. It was a perfect plan. There was no way the Avatar could leave unless he wanted his friends to die." He suddenly looked up, right into Katara's eyes. "But you ruined everything." That was not what Katara was expected. The comment stung, but she let him continue. "You came along and ruined it. You were supposed to be just a pawn in my game. I had everything made, I was ready to go home and reclaim my rightful place as Prince of the Fire Nation, heir to the throne of the Fire Lord. But you came along and changed everything. I was not supposed to fall in love with you, but now I have, and you see what it's doing to me?" There was a long pause before Zuko continued. "I can't get you out of my head. You've made me doubt every decision I've ever made, and I know I can't keep using you as bait for the Avatar. Everything is ruined, and it's ruined forever, if I let you go, I can't ever use you or your friends again because I'll remember these past months. Thanks to you my honor, my throne, my country, my father's pride… they're all down the drain."

Katara looked at the floor. She felt horrible. She didn't realize that so much was going on in him, and she felt bad for not seeing it, even though she knew it was impossible to tell. But he wasn't done. "And the scary part is… I don't know if I regret it." Katara looked up again, curious. "Think what would happen to you if every single day of your life someone had told you that one thing was true, and then in one day, you find out that it may actually be the opposite that's true. That's how I feel right now… and I can't even begin to know what to think."

"Am I that bad?" Katara asked weakly.

"I need you to leave me alone," he said fiercely. "But I know you can't do anything about it, because it's me that's making myself miserable." He rubbed his eyes tiredly. But then he removed his hands from his eyes, and stared at her, quite awake now. "I can't keep you prisoner anymore. I have to let you go."

Katara was taken aback. "But…" she said, confused. "Wait. You can't let me go. If you do, then Aang and Sokka and Toph will get suspicious. And didn't you just say that it wouldn't matter if you let me go or not?"

"I know," he said. He opened his mouth to continue, but sighed. He didn't look as confused as he did before, but seemed to be resigned. "I know. I could keep you here and nothing different would happen. I can't turn you or the Avatar or your friends in to my father anymore. I know that… but there's no point in you staying anymore."

"But…" Katara suddenly wasn't sure whether she wanted to go. Well, she knew she wanted to go… but she wasn't sure she wanted to leave Zuko. "What about Aang?" she asked, stalling for time. "He would go crazy if he suspected that we were even friends." With this she blushed, but Zuko ignored it.

"I know a way around that."

Wonderful. That was exactly what she was afraid of.

"Tomorrow night I'll show you where your friends are being held. The night after tomorrow I'll send a servant by with your dinner, and your friends' dinners. He'll lock the doors after he leaves, but I'll come by and unlock them. When I unlock yours, you go get your friends and say that the servant must've forgotten to lock your doors. Get all three of them and then make your way on deck. Just keep going up. As for the guards, it'll look suspicious if I tell them not to go to the deck. I never stand guard myself, neither does my uncle, and I don't trust any of them enough to tell them to leave you alone. With Aang you'll be able to take them out. When you get on deck, there will be four emergency boats that are always there, in case the warship should sink. Get into one of them and sail east. You should hit land in no more than a day. If you're caught… you'll just be sent back to me, and we can work something else out."

Katara stared. He _had_ been thinking about it. Too bad for her, it sounded like it would work. "That might work," she admitted.

"It will," Zuko said. She must have been looking hesitant, because Zuko said, "You know we can't ever be together. You have to do this, or else we'll never have any peace of mind."

Katara wiped away the tears that had welled in her eyes. "Can we be together tonight?" she asked. He said nothing, but reached out for her and pulled her into his lap.

"Just tonight," he whispered.

"Okay," she whispered back.

She laid there in his arms for a long time before falling asleep. During that time she wanted to talk, she wanted to think, she wanted to do something, but a numbness had gripped her, and all she could do was cling to Zuko, knowing there was no tomorrow for the two of them. All she could do was lose herself in the moment so that she could call it back more vividly when she needed it.

-Zuko-

Zuko was cured. Or so it seemed on the outside. He was focusing in training again, he was back to his old, decisive, ordering self. He had regained charge of his ship and was heading full steam to the Fire Nation. But inside, he was a mess. Only Iroh could see it from the outside. Only Iroh could distinguish his new darkness from the one he had had before. But Zuko would never confide in him. So, on the outside, things progressed in fragile harmony.

But Zuko was so confused. He hated it. He had never been confused before he had met Katara. There was always one path that was the obvious one to take. But now he had no idea where to turn. He had felt elation unknown to him for years and years in their kiss, but then, so suddenly it seemed, Katara had broken it off. And now the one thing that he would've preferred to leave in darkness was crystal clear. He loved Katara, but she didn't love him back.

Sometimes he was able to ignore his confusion by focusing on every other wretched feeling he was experiencing, but it was a feeble paradise. There was a lot to focus on, though.

Worry, for one, and self-hatred. Whenever he went to visit Katara in the aftermath of their night, she hardly talked at all. He couldn't believe that he had been so forward, to overwhelm her by up and kissing her instead of just taking her back into her room. There was so much to think about, and he had to go and add another whole galaxy to that. He worried that she would never look at him the same way. He was quite convinced it was his fault, but felt immensely guilty that he could never really tell himself that the kiss itself was a bad thing. He couldn't bring himself to ignore the fact that holding her in his arms, it just felt so right.

He had to talk to her. So he went to his room and retrieved his only chance to get her to even want to look at him again. Hidden in his drawer, tucked carefully away below his shirts was the necklace he had taken from Katara once when he was using the help of pirates to try to catch the Avatar. He knew she had been missing it. Sometimes, when she appeared sad or stressed, she would reach up to her neck and make a closing motion with her hand, around where the pendant would have been if she was wearing the necklace.

He couldn't think of a way to give it back to her with finesse, so he simply walked into her room and dropped it on her bed, sitting down. She picked it up, staring at it as though hardly daring to believe it was real. "My mother's necklace," she whispered, her eyes clouded with emotion. He couldn't think of a response to this, so he was silent, letting her bask in her thoughts, until Katara seemed to come to and said, "But why are you giving it to me?"

That wasn't what he expected. He knew why he gave it to her… but suddenly he was blurting out what he hadn't said that night. Suddenly, for the first time, he was talking about his mother. He'd had it all worked out. He wasn't going to tell anyone. And then he spat it out because he was nervous around a girl. Not that he actually _was_ nervous or anything. Nerves were for cowards. But of course, Zuko wasn't sure of anything anymore, let alone his own bravery.

Nonetheless, thinking about his mother again was painful. Terribly painful. And he realized, for the second time in a long time, that there were tears in his eyes.

"Thank you," Katara whispered. He hoped she wouldn't notice his crying, but she reached up and touched his cheek, and by the look on her face, she noticed. But her touch sent a jolt through his entire body. But then… another question he didn't want to think about. "Why do we have to do this?"

A different Zuko might've dismissed the question. The Zuko he had always thought he was, the cynical, closed version, wouldn't have had any trouble saying they were doing nothing. But since meeting Katara, Zuko knew he was much different from the Zuko he was. "We have no choice," he said, taking her hand and pushing it away from his face.

"But what if… what if we could--?"

"We can't," he said. "There is no way. No matter what we are and always will be on different sides of the war. There is no way we could keep meeting each other without giving away our whereabouts to the other side. There is no way we could make it work." As he said this, Zuko confirmed his own fears, but he continued anyway. "We're just too different."

"We're not so different," Katara said. She put her mother's necklace on and continued. "We share something that is much more important than honor. Something that's bigger than both of us."

"That doesn't change anything," he said bitterly.

"There are other ways," she countered. "We're on different sides of the war… but does your heart really agree with your mind?" She lifted her other necklace from her shirt. Zuko remembered he had gotten it for her that day. God, it felt like a lifetime ago, before everything had turned sour. "I was telling the truth that day." Zuko could only blink. This was the first time either one of them had mentioned it since it happened. They hadn't before because they were… embarrassed? Scared? It didn't matter. "You have made mistakes," she said, interrupting his thoughts. "I've made mistakes. We've all made _mistakes._ But… I think, I _know,_ that you have enough good in you… to reconcile the mistakes that you've made." He didn't even hear what else she said. He was too distracted by her statement, ringing in his ears. That's what he had wanted to hear for years, and if he could erase everything else that had happened, he had heard it from the ideal person. But he couldn't erase what had happened, and it was just baiting him now.

"How can you tell what I'm feeling?" he asked bluntly.

"I can't. No one can… but I certainly hope I'm right." He stared at her. This was impossible. He knew he could never ever even _think_ of being with Katara. There were a million reasons why not, and the only way they could ever work it out would be breaking every rule in the book. From birth he had been told that he was to marry a nice Fire Nation girl and get on with his life, and from birth he had never questioned whether this was good for him or not. Finally, he muttered, "What am I supposed to do?"

"I don't know," Katara answered. "Whatever makes you happy."

_Whatever makes you happy._ Now there's a phrase he hadn't heard in a long time. Maybe not ever. He certainly couldn't remember being told so before today. To tell himself the truth, Katara made him happy. Katara with him and not just beyond his reach made him happy. Katara's kiss, Katara's smile, Katara's everything made him happy. Everything except for the fact that there was not a single way they could make any relationship at all work. Even friendship was treacherous.

"I love you," Katara said suddenly.

And that was it. Zuko had always known that there was only a certain amount of pressure—emotional, physical, mental, whatever—that a person could take. He just never thought he'd have to face it. It was a lot different than he thought it'd be. A lot simpler, at least. It was almost as if a tide of numbness had swept through his body. He didn't even hear what she said next. But he then realized that she was gazing at him in anguish. He was clearly supposed to say something.

"Go to sleep," he said, not unkindly. She smiled and leaned back onto her pillow. "Go to sleep and… I'll be back to talk." After he'd had a good think, at least. Katara murmured something, but his mind was elsewhere. He came out of his thoughtful reverie, and opened his mouth to ask her what she said. But she was already asleep. He closed his mouth and made to leave. But he glanced back, and came quietly to the side of her cot. He pulled her blanket up over her shoulders, and touched her cheek so softly, that he could hardly feel it herself. He stared at her for a moment longer before leaving. _I really need to get her a real bed, _he thought.

But when he left the room, that was the last thing on his mind. He made his way to his uncle's room without thinking, effortlessly navigating the confusing passageways and halls until he reached his uncle's door. Honestly, if you wandered around enough, you'd know when you found the door. Iroh had insisted that the original bleak metal one be replaced with a luxuriant teak one. In spite of everything, Zuko couldn't help but roll his eyes. Iroh could be so gaudy at times.

He knocked on the door, his mind returning to his worries. The numbness he'd felt earlier was starting to ebb, and he was finally ready to tell his uncle everything… or close to it. Iroh came to the door wearing a red robe emblazoned with the Fire Nation emblem. "Zuko!" he exclaimed. "I wasn't expecting you at this hour. So, you've finally come to your senses and decided to join me at music night!"

Zuko felt a flash of annoyance. "_No,_ Uncle," he said. "I'm here for… a different reason." Iroh seemed to notice there was something wrong in his demeanor.

"Come in, come in," he said in tones of slight concern. Zuko went in and settled himself in an armchair, waiting for Iroh to come sit beside him. But instead he went over to his chest of drawers and promptly took off his robe, showing Zuko certain… things… he had _never_ wanted to see.

"Uncle!" he yelped, covering his eyes.

"What?" Iroh asked innocently. "I have to get dressed."

"Well warn me before you strip next time!" said Zuko in indignation, his hands still clamped tightly over his eyes. "And hurry up," he added irritably.

After Zuko was quite sure Iroh was fully clothed, he opened his eyes. Iroh was seated in the armchair next to him, his hands folded neatly on his lap. "Now, Zuko," he said, his eyes serious. "This is about the Water Tribe girl, am I right?'

Zuko didn't bother to act affronted. "Katara," he corrected.

"Katara," Iroh amended, nodding. "What is on your mind?"

"That's just it," he said in a low voice. "I don't know."

"You are wondering how you feel about her?" Iroh suggested gingerly.

"Yes," Zuko said bluntly. "But even that's not allowed, isn't it? Bringing her food, sitting with her while she was injured, talking to her—it's servant work, isn't it?"

"It certainly is," Iroh said unhelpfully. Zuko stared beadily at him, but it was clear that Iroh was waiting for him to talk.

"Then why can't I stay away?" he asked, finally giving voice to his own fears.

Iroh leaned forward. "Zuko, it is normal to feel this way about a girl—"

"It's not normal for me!" Zuko cut him off angrily. "I was never supposed to have had to deal with girls at all. I was supposed to be able to just choose a girl and be done with it. And the girl wouldn't have even had a choice. My path was set out for me and then Katara comes along and changes everything!"

"Love works that way," Iroh said. Zuko opened his mouth to retort, but he had nothing to say. "That's how I met your aunt," he continued conversationally. Zuko raised his eyebrows. Iroh had never told him about this before. But then again, Zuko had never asked. Or cared, for that matter. "She was a servant of mine, started just after I became general," he said, leaning back and folding his hands on his rather corpulent belly. "She appeared quiet, hardworking—like all the others. But when you would talk to her… oh, she was just the easiest person to talk to. And the hardest."

"What are you talking about?" Zuko snorted.

"Well, she was never short of a conversation topic," he said, sitting up slightly straighter. "And when she talked—she was _so_ talented—she absolutely drew you in. I'd start to talk to her and we'd realize that we'd been talking for a long time. Hours, in some cases. I always said she could be a great public speaker. If she started talking about her opinions on things to you, she'd have you on you knees in five minutes, wondering why you ever thought differently than she did."

"But why was she the hardest person to talk to?" he asked.

"She wasn't afraid of anything. She would talk about how ridiculous the war was, she would talk about things that no one else would want to. She was certainly not afraid of sounding politically incorrect," he chuckled softly, his eyes glowing with memories. "I might've fallen in love with her for that, her bravery. But our relationship was completely and utterly against the rules."

"But you did it anyway," Zuko murmured.

"We did," he said. "We agreed that we would keep it a secret, and we got married in secret. But then she became pregnant with your cousin. My father never liked her because of her sharp tongue, and when the child was born, he found out that I was the father. He was ready to kill her then, but I convinced him to keep her alive and simply fire her. And he did—or so I thought."

"He didn't fire her?" Zuko asked, confused.

"He executed her anyway," Iroh said bitterly. "The day I went to lay siege to Ba Sing Se, he executed her. Because our relationship was against the rules."

"And how is this supposed to help me?" Zuko asked.

"If you decide to stay with Katara, she won't be executed. Your aunt and I had nowhere else to go, but if we had, she would still be alive today," he said.

"You're saying I should… leave? Go off this ship and abandon my honor?" Zuko asked.

"I'm saying you should do what you think is right," Iroh said. He stood up and ushered Zuko out the door. "I can't help you any further."

He closed the door. Zuko stood there for a moment, staring at the closed door, before going back to Katara's room. _Do what you think is right,_ Zuko thought. _How can I do what I think is right when I don't know _what_ to think?_

He entered the room quietly. Katara was still sleeping. He was glad. It gave him more time to think about what he needed to do. He alternated between watching Katara sleep and watching the floor as the minutes ticked by. He couldn't be with her, he couldn't let her go, he couldn't turn in the Avatar. Whichever way you cut it, it was a lose-lose-lose situation. For him anyway. But he had to choose something.

When she awoke he was staring at the floor. He didn't look at her, but he could feel her sitting up, feel her eyes on him. He had come to a decision, but for some reason he couldn't speak to her, he couldn't look at her. She remained silent with him, watching him the whole time. Finally the words formed in his mouth. They weren't the words he'd planned on, however.

"This wasn't supposed to happen," he said. There was a moment when they were both silent, but Zuko couldn't stand the silence anymore. "I finally finished my mission. I had the Avatar, and I had the people the Avatar cares most about. It was a perfect plan…" On and on he went, letting out every wretched feeling, foisting them onto Katara. He hated himself for burdening her, but he couldn't hold onto the pain for one more horrific, angst-ridden second.

Katara paused a moment when he finished and then said, "Am I that bad?"

"I need you to leave me alone!" he snapped, flaring up immediately. But he went on more gently. "But I know you can't do anything about it, because it's me that's making myself miserable." He rubbed his eyes, stalling for time. But he knew he had to say it once and for all. "I can't keep you prisoner anymore. I have to let you go."

"But… wait," Katara said. "You can't let me go. If you do, then Aang and Sokka and Toph will get suspicious. And didn't you just say that it wouldn't matter if you let me go or not?"

"I know," he sighed. "I know. I could keep you here and nothing different would happen. I can't turn you or the Avatar or your friends in to my father anymore. I know that… but there's no point in you staying anymore."

"But what about Aang? He would go crazy if he suspected that we were even friends," she said uncertainly, a delicate flush creeping up her cheeks.

"I know a way around that," he said, somewhat reluctantly. He began to relay his plan to her.

Her face was stoic through his entire rendition. She paused for a moment after he was done. "That might work," she said.

"It will," Zuko assured her. She looked reluctant, and his heart yearned to call off the plan and be like Iroh, keep their love a secret. But they could never do that. He tried to comfort her, "You know we can't ever be together. You have to do this or else we'll never have any peace of mind."

Katara wiped her eyes, and the pain of his decision intensified. "Can we be together tonight?" she asked, her voice cracking. He reached out for her, giving in to his longing, and pulled her into him, holding her close, breathing in her sweet scent. His entire body seemed to elate in her presence, and he whispered huskily, "Just tonight."

"Okay," she breathed, snaking her arms around him and pulling herself a little bit closer.

That moment of closeness between them was almost enough to make Zuko change his mind. Almost. But he couldn't have spoken if he wanted to. Katara was like a drug to him. He couldn't get enough of her, but he couldn't keep her near him. He stared off into the distance for a long time before realizing that Katara was asleep. At this point he picked her up and laid her tenderly in her cot. He covered her up and she turned over, letting out a tiny sigh. He stared at her face, much prettier when it was untroubled, and took it in his hand, running his thumb gently along her jaw line. Forgetting himself, he leaned in and kissed her before leaving.

* * *

**A/N:** Well, I'm back from my hiatus. But sit tight, because I have a bit of a story to tell. 

I think you guys deserve to know why I was gone for so long. I'm not going to tell you everything, but I'll give you the idea. It did start out with homework and band stuff, but along the way I went to a place that I never want to go again. My problems started to stack up and I got to a point where I called my best friend and talked to her for hours. And in a nutshell, she made me get help, and brought me back. So these last months have been something of a rollercoaster. But I'm here now, and I'm not going back. And before I say anything else, I would like to make this clear:

**_Everyone who asks me exactly what was happening gets a virtual smack upside the head. And gets yelled at._**

Anyway... while I was... indisposed... trying to write was like hell for me. That's part of the reason why it got so bad, because I couldn't write my way out of my problems. But this story in particular was absolute torture. So I stopped altogether. And when I had put everything behind me, I finally came back and promptly got agitated with how angsty it was. But I'm done now, and I'll be updating semi-regularly.

On a happier note, I'll talk about the story. Like I said, I was annoyed at how angsty it was. And the fact that I repeated a lot of the dialogue in Zuko's POV. So, I'll make myself feel better: 1. This is the angsty-emotional peak of the story for the forseeable future. In the next chapter Zuko helps Katara escape, but they won't be wallowing in their depression the whole time. Unless I do something later in the story that calls for all this crap, this is it with the angst. 2. I really couldn't find a way around repeating a lot of the dialogue in Zuko's POV. And it wasn't long enough for me to put the POVs in separate chapters. So I repeated a lot. That's the way it is, and I'll try to not let it happen again

The next chapter will be a relief to write. But all my teachers seem to have noticed that we're halfway through the school year and have decided to dump boatloads of homework on me. So I'm not even going to hazard a guess at when I'll post Chapter 8.

Until then--

S W e e T R e B e L L i o N


	9. The Plan I

**Disclaimer:** Don't own Avatar. Never have, never will.

**Chapter 8 : The Plan I**

-Katara-

The next few days passed in a haze. Katara was only vaguely aware of herself throughout, and in later days she would wonder how she managed to do anything right. But the numb state she had taken to was fine by her, compared to what she had been feeling. She didn't know it yet, but the apex of her pain had passed.

Zuko didn't come to visit her during the day. She had woken up and he had already left, but she refused to dwell on the memories of the night before. She simply sat and thought of what she would do when she had escaped, as if nothing had ever happened between her and Zuko. She could still feel the pain of knowing she was leaving him, but her mind had already let go of him, and was persuading her heart to do so as well. But nonetheless, she didn't sleep. She stayed alert, staring at the door, trying hard not to act like she'd been expecting anyone when a servant came in with her meals.

Long after her dinner arrived, Katara began to get impatient, and the blank shock started to ebb a bit. _Why can't he hurry up?_ She thought to herself. She began to count the seconds, which passed slowly and torturously. But this became boring not long after two minutes had passed, so she alternated between pacing and sitting. Pace, sit, pace, sit. It was a monotonous cycle, and she was glad when Zuko finally arrived to break it.

"Come with me," he said, "and if you value your own life, don't make a sound."

Slightly melodramatic, Katara thought, but it couldn't be helped. She experienced that familiar swooping sensation again, and found it was quite a lot harder to ignore when it was brought on by Zuko himself, and not just the thought of him. But she scurried out the door without a word.

"Don't forget the way," he whispered. They walked in silence for a while, navigating the twisting corridors. Katara counted the doors and turns as they went, _One, two, three, four doors, past the first right, one, two doors, turn left, one, two three…_ Before she might've wondered how on earth she would remember the way, but now she wondered how on earth she would ever forget it. Finally, they came to a stop.

"Your friends are in these three rooms," he said, pointing to three consecutive doors. "They don't know that they're right next to each other, though." Before she could say anything, he set off again. Katara began to count doors again, but she realized that they were just going down every flight of stairs, and she became aware of a certain stench as they descended. Zuko led her to another door, where the stench was so strong it was almost overwhelming. "The beast and the lemur are in here," he said with distaste.

"God, Zuko, don't you ever give them baths?" she whispered in spite of herself. He scowled at her before leading her back up to her room.

When they got up to her room, he opened the door and stood aside to let her in. She glanced at him, and then walked slowly to her cot. When she turned around, he was still there. They both opened their mouths to say something. Katara's something was along the lines of 'I love you,' but she knew it would be no more useful than rubbing salt in a wound, so she exhaled as if she could expel the words with her breath. Zuko shook his head, swallowing whatever he was going to say as well, and closed the door. But it was a long time before Katara heard the lock click, and slow footsteps leading away from her door.

She slept that night wondering what he stopped himself from saying, and wondering whether he would regret not saying it.

The next day, her mindset was that of grim determination. Apparently it had taken her until that day to realize how much she hated her room. Or rather, her cell. One could hardly call it a room. It had nothing in it, nothing except the cot and her blankets. And the other pair of clothes she had bought when Zuko had taken her out to the city. Even though she had been happy when they had bought those, the memory now stung.

Out of reflex, she reached up to finger the pendant on her mother's necklace, but her fingers bumped gently against the necklace that Zuko had given her. She paused, stopping her hand on the way up to her mother's necklace. Slowly, she undid the clasp on Zuko's necklace, and took it off, laying the pendant in her hand. She gazed at it for a moment before noticing her eyes were swimming with tears. She blinked them back and carefully stowed his necklace in her pocket. She wouldn't let it go, but Aang, Sokka, and Toph would be pretty suspicious if she was taken prisoner and came out with new clothes and a new necklace.

_New clothes, _she thought with a start. She could hide her necklace, but she couldn't hide her clothes. And they would certainly wonder where she had gotten her mother's necklace back. And the best part was that _she_ would have to explain away these kinks in the plan.

She jumped about a mile when the servant came in with her breakfast. "God, do you have to scare me like that?" she exclaimed impulsively. It earned her a smart slap across the face from a deeply disapproving servant who was, inconveniently, not one of the timid teenagers. The door snapped shut, and the lock clicked decisively. She scowled at the closed door and stuffed a meager portion of bread in her mouth. She chewed slowly, thoughtfully. Then she began to rip at her clothes, and rubbed food into it. Once she was done, they looked thoroughly worn. She hoped that Sokka and Aang wouldn't notice they were different.

The day passed monotonously compared to what was in store for the night. Irony is strange, but we can't do anything about that. The lunch servant came, and then the one bringing dinner. Sure enough, he locked the door behind him. It was a long time until she heard the click of the door unlocking. She stood up swiftly, hoping Zuko had unlocked the others' doors. She poked her head out into the hallway, and he was a fair ways down it already. She stepped tentatively out of the threshold and he glanced back once to show he knew she was there before continuing down the hall. She took this to mean that the others were unlocked, too.

She sped down the hallway, silently, carefully, checking at every turn to see if there were guards. Luckily, there didn't seem to be any guards patrolling the halls. She covered the area between her room and Aang's room (or Sokka's, or Toph's, she wasn't sure whose room it was) remarkably fast compared to when Zuko had showed her the way. When she reached the first door she reached out to open it, but stopped, reached up, and removed a pin from her hair. She examined it carefully; it was a bit big to pass off as something she'd picked the lock with, but it would have to do. She rattled the doorknob once before opening it. Whoever was inside had to know that she had picked the lock.

The room, it transpired, was Toph's, which proved to be useful. When she opened the door, she caught a glance of Toph sitting in a corner. Her clothes were ripped and dirty from the fight they had had before being captured, too. Her hair showed signs of her not getting shower privileges, though. Katara momentarily wondered whether she should've rubbed some food in her hair, too. _It's messy enough to pass off as dirty,_ she thought. And anyway, it was too late for that. But all in all, she had done a good job at making herself look beaten up. Toph didn't look too underfed, anyway. She slipped into the room, and Toph looked up in surprise. "Katara, how--?" she began.

"Shh!" Katara hissed. "Someone came in my room to give me food, but he was a scrawny little thing so I knocked him out with the tray. I don't know how much time we have, and I don't know where any guards are. Can you feel where the others are?"

"I can feel Twinkle Toes walking around," she whispered. "I can't tell what room he's in, though."

"Come on," Katara said. "If you can feel him now, maybe you'd be able to find his room if we go into the hall." They hurried out silently, and Toph walked experimentally down the hall, Katara trailing close behind.

"He's here," she deduced, pointing to a room two doors down from hers. Katara wordlessly went to work on the lock. She shoved her hairpin in the keyhole, fiddling around with it until happenstance made it click. She turned the knob and entered Aang's room. Aang looked similar to Toph and Katara, but rather skinnier.

"Aang!" Katara cried, rushing forward to hug him. He didn't even have time to say anything, but he hugged her back tightly.

"You know," came Toph's sarcastic whisper. "Maybe we can save the mushy reunions until _after_ we're off this thing, okay lovebirds?" Aang and Katara let go, and they both blushed. Aang smiled, though. Katara, however felt sick rather than smiley.

"Katara," Aang began.

"I knocked out the person bringing me food and was trying a bunch of doors," she answered his unasked question. "Now come _on._" They rushed out the door. The urgency of their mission was starting to affect her, though, and she had to keep remembering to act like no one had planned this. She went to a door that she knew did not hold Sokka and tried the lock. To her surprise, it sprang open, but it was an empty store room. She moved on to another door, but Toph stopped her.

"Wait," she said. "You said you were trying doors on the way to my room?"

"Yeah," Katara said. She kept her voice calm, but a flicker of panic rose in her chest.

"So that means there's a trail of unlocked doors that leads right to us," Toph said. Katara exhaled imperceptibly. "We have to stop trying doors." She walked around again, much more slowly than before. Aang and Katara stood perfectly still, careful not to cause vibrations that would distract her. Finally she walked up to Sokka's door and placed the ball of her foot on it, keeping her heel on the ground. "I think he's in here," she whispered.

"What if it's someone else?" Aang asked.

"We improvise," Katara said grimly, going to work on the lock. After she scraped it against something in the keyhole that made her hairpin click, she turned the handle. All three of them let out a sigh of relief when Sokka was in the room, even Katara. Sokka was asleep, but in contrast with the others, his clothes weren't ripped at all, and they were only dirty because he hadn't washed in a long time. _He didn't really fight, though,_ Katara though, recalling the squabble they'd had before being captured.

"No wonder I couldn't see him in here!" Toph exclaimed. "He's asleep!" She walked forward and hit him on the head. "Wake up!"

Sokka sat bolt upright, brandishing his hand as if he were holding his boomerang. "Who there?" he asked groggily, and then, "INTRU—" But Toph clapped a hand over his mouth before he could continue shouting. He struggled for a bit, but Toph hissed in his ear, "It's me, you idiot!" He suddenly stopped moving and a look of comprehension dawned in his eyes. Toph let go of him.

They came back out into the hallway and Sokka opened his mouth to ask questions, but Katara cut him off. "Let's go," she said. Sokka opened his mouth again, looking very determined to ask his question. But he was cut off again, this time by Toph.

"But which way do we go?" Toph asked.

"We're below deck, right?" Katara asked, yet again silencing Sokka. "We'll just keep going up."

Sokka tried to speak again, this time looking determined to have his voice heard, but Aang said, "We can't go anywhere without Appa and Momo."

"Now wait just one second!" Sokka began loudly.

"_Shh!_" all three of them said in unison, turning on Sokka. He quieted down grudgingly as they continued their debate.

"Where do we find them?" asked Katara.

"Toph, do you see them?" Aang turned urgently to Toph. She shook her head. The three seemed to deflate, out of ideas. Katara couldn't think of a way to lead them to Appa without it looking suspicious.

"What do we do now?" she asked bluntly.

"The bison whistle," Sokka said, cocking his head at the others. "Do you still have it?"

Aang and Katara stared at him. She wondered why s he hadn't thought that. But Toph interjected, "Yes, yes, he's very smart, but we're wasting time."

Aang seemed to come out of a reverie and retrieved the bison whistle from deep within the tattered folds of his clothes. He blew it hard. Nothing happened. He blew again. Suddenly Toph's head pricked up, staring at nothing. She flexed her toes and placed her feet squarely on the ground. "Blow again," she said. Aang obliged, giving it a long, hard blow, and then looking at Toph.

"He's below us," she said. "I don't know how far down, but he's below us."

Without exchanging words, the four searched, silently and quickly, for a stairway. When they did, they went down and Aang blew on the whistle again. Again, Toph told them to go down. Katara could smell him from here, but the others didn't seem to notice. They descended a few more flights of stairs, and then Katara pointed out the smell. "Can you smell that?" she asked.

Sokka sniffed the air, curling his lip in disgust. "That must be him!" Aang blew on his whistle again, but this time they could all feel Appa fighting against whatever was holding him to answer the call.

"Down," Toph said, and they went down yet another stairway. Once they reached the landing, Toph said "There isn't another floor beneath us. He's that way." She pointed down a hallway to the right and they went hurtling down it. Sure enough, they reached the place where Appa was kept. It was obviously at one of the ends of the ship because of the way the wall was shaped. Apparently accommodating Appa was a surprise to the sailors, because it was carpeted so thinly in hay that you could see the metal floor underneath it. The and in addition to that, the hay was growing mold, telling Katara that they probably hadn't changed it since they were captured. Appa looked no better off; his fur was matted and he stunk. His pen was actually the end of the ship closed off by rough structure of wooden planks. Appa would've torn right through it if it hadn't been for the metal shackles holding him down. When they arrived he let out a roar of delight. "Shh, boy!" Aang said. Appa stared at him dolefully. "We're going to get you out of here." Appa strained against his manacles, trying to lick Aang's face.

Sokka stepped forward and began hacking at the wooden gate with his boomerang. It didn't take too many blows to buckle enough to allow the four through. The four climbed over the broken beam and Aang ran right into Appa's filthy fluff, giving him a big hug and saying, "Did you miss me, boy?" He answered with a loud bray and a lick on the side that soaked Aang's clothes with bison spit. Sokka looked disgusted, and was about to say something, but Katara cut him off.

"Come on, let's get him out of these shackles," she said. They were about to get to that when a distraction arrived in the form of Momo. Rather, in the form of Momo letting out a loud squawk.

"Momo!" Sokka said, kneeling down and letting him out of the chicken wire cage he was in. Momo immediately flew a lap around the pen joyously and landed on Appa's head. Katara's heart filled with joy as she watched Momo nuzzling Appa affectionately. She was happy to be with her friends, and anxious to get off the ship. It was almost as though she'd forgotten what life was like before Zuko.

Even though he was overjoyed by Momo's sudden appearance, Aang immediately started working on one of the shackles that bound Appa. He fiddled with it and pounded it and even tried Airbending… nothing worked, not even when Sokka tried to beat them apart with his boomerang. "These aren't going to give," he said in frustration. "They're welded together!"

"The chains would be a lot easier to break," said Sokka, pointing them out. He began to hack at those, but Toph caught his boomerang in her hand as he brought it down.

"Hold on there," she said. She picked up part of the chain and pulled it tight. "Now try." He tried. And he failed. So he tried again. And yet again, he failed. While Sokka was battering the chain, Katara was looking through the other chains in search of weak links. She found one attached to one of Appa's front legs that had rusted and summoned Sokka over. It broke easily, and it allowed Appa to curl around and chew the other one off, but he couldn't reach the back ones, and they held firm.

"How did they even get him in here?" Toph yelled in frustration. She realized how loudly she'd just shouted and whispered, "I mean, how did they even get him in here?"

"That door!" Katara said in surprise, noticing a huge trap door in the ceiling. They all looked up at it.

Then Sokka said, "Aang, do you think you could keep that door open with Airbending? Then maybe we could get on Appa and get out of here! I bet he could break the chains by flying away."

Aang eyed the door doubtfully. "That thing is solid steel. I could keep it open for Appa only, but I couldn't keep it open for all of us."

"Why not?" Sokka asked in confusion.

"Think about it," Aang said worriedly. "If we were riding on Appa, not only would I have to keep a strong enough stream of air, but I'd have to change its direction, too. I can't hold something that heavy unless that's the _only_ thing I'm concentrating on. If I ride Appa, too, it'll slam shut when he's only halfway through the door." Sokka seemed to deflate. "You guys could get on," Aang said slowly, "And I could go up the way we came…"

"We're not leaving you Aang!" said Toph loudly. Katara noticed a something else in her voice, too that she couldn't quite put her finger on.

"We're not leaving you," Katara said in determination, disregarding Toph's tone of voice.

"Katara," he said, staring at her with wide eyes. "I'm not going to let you get hurt. You guys get on Appa and I'll—" With this statement Katara remembered that being with her friends did not guarantee her an escape from mixed emotions. She glanced at Toph, who had a hard expression on her face and was staring at Aang.

"You do know you're talking to Katara and Toph, don't you?" Sokka interrupted loudly. Aang narrowed his eyes at Sokka.

"Got any ideas, then?"

"Yeah," Sokka said. "You let Appa go and we all go up the way we came." A look of indecision crossed Aang's face momentarily, but staring at Katara, he seemed to resign himself to the worst.

"Okay," he said. "Now stand back." He breathed in deeply, bringing his hands up in front of his face and then back down to his midriff, folded them like he was praying, and closed his eyes. He opened his eyes and leapt forward, sending a blast of air at the door. It creaked open, lifting one or two feet. Katara watched the sweat drip down the side of his head with the effort it was causing him to keep the air going. Suddenly the air stopped, the door fell down with a giant _thud,_ and his knees buckled. Katara scurried forward to support him before he fell to the ground, knowing perfectly well that it was sending all the wrong signals.

As she took his arm and put it around her neck, he mumbled, "I can't do it."

"Yeah, you can!" Toph said. "Stand up!" Aang did, looking at her in surprise. Katara stepped back. "You're trying to move this huge metal thing, right? Well that's almost exactly like moving a rock, except you're doing it with Airbending!"

"What are you saying?" asked Aang.

"I'm _saying,_" Toph said, "that you need to approach it like you're moving a rock. So what's the most important part of Earthbending?"

"Your stance," Aang said promptly. "It has to be steady and strong, like a rock."

"Very good," she said. "So if you have a strong stance, you'll be able to more that door. Rocklike!"

Aang paused and said, "Are you sure this will—"

"Did you not hear me? Rocklike!"

Aang slid obediently into his Earthbending stance. He breathed deeply again, and brought his hands to his midriff, imitating what he had done before. Then he let out a blast of air. This one lifted the door slowly but steadily. And what they saw did not please Katara.

There was another trap door above that, just as heavy as the other one. Katara glanced at Aang. His eyes widened in dismay for a moment, but he kept up his stream of air. His eyes narrowed in total concentration, and his eyes and arrow started to glow. He himself started giving off powerful waves of air as his blast of air got stronger. All three of them took a step back as the room was filled with the light of his eyes and arrow. Katara clutched Sokka's arm and squinted at Aang's bright silhouette, holding up a hand to shield her eyes from the flying hay. She could hear Toph shout triumphantly, and all of a sudden, the air got so strong that all the trapdoors above the one Aang had been working on snapped open as easily as they would have if they were made of cloth.

All at once Aang's glow faded and the air emanating from him stopped. He let out a sigh as the avatar spirit left him, and Katara again ran forward to catch him. He was as limp as a rag doll, but smiling. "Good one, Twinkle Toes," Toph said.

The only problem with this moment was that each of the doors had made resonating _clangs_ as they opened, and they could hear turmoil on deck. Suddenly, Sokka threw his boomerang straight up in the air.

"What was that for?!" Toph exclaimed.

The answer came in the form of a man falling from the sky.

One of the crew members had apparently spotted them, looking down through the doors, and Sokka hit him with his boomerang. He hit the ground with a sickening _thud_, and Katara was sure she heard something crack. "Come on," Aang said. "We have to get out of here." Aang, Sokka, and Toph began to get on Appa, but Katara paused. She glanced at Appa, then back at the man on the floor. Then quickly she ran up to him, kneeling on the floor and taking his wrist in her hand. As much as she deplored the Fire Nation in general, she was hesitant about leaving one of them to die. When she reached him, she saw his face was pale, and a dark trickle of blood was creeping down it. But she saw his chest moving up and down faintly. "Katara, come on!" Aang shouted, deflecting a fireball with a blast of air that sent it spinning off course. It landed on the hay and ignited it immediately.

"I'm not letting him die here!" Katara shouted over the roar of the flames. She took his pulse, knowing she didn't have a lot of time. It was weak, but there. She quickly assessed the situation in her head. If she left him here, he'd die anyway, and her efforts would've been for nothing. Making a decision, she lifted him up and dragged him towards Appa. She was lucky he was only 17 or 18; if he wasn't, she'd never have been able to lift him.

"Katara, what are you doing?!" Sokka screamed. Katara ignored him and heaved the boy onto Appa. She climbed up onto the saddle and yelled, "Appa! Yip, yip!"

Appa grunted and put his weight on his hind legs. Then he kicked off the ground, soaring through the doors and snapping the chains as easily as if they were made of string. When he flew out the last door, they knew they were free. At this point a good portion of the crew was out, and firing at them without mercy, but Aang held them off with great shelves of air that sent the fireballs right back to the Firebenders. When they were just feet above the deck, Katara pushed the kid who Sokka had hit off and onto the deck. If it was in the cards for him to live, then she had just handed him his best chance.

They soared higher, and Katara stared at the droves of Firebenders below them, seeking out one in particular. She saw him standing behind the railing of an elevated deck, shouting orders. He looked up at the same time as she noticed him. They stared at each other for a moment, and then Zuko sent a stream of fire at them. Katara and Toph ducked and Sokka flattened himself against Appa's head, but Aang wasn't fast enough to stop it. "Appa!" he screamed. It grazed Appa's back, and he let out a roar of pain. Once it had passed, Katara and Sokka stepped forward and began hitting the flames that had ignited on the saddle with their sacks, putting it out quickly. Toph stayed clinging to the side of the saddle.

"Toph!" Aang yelled. "Why didn't you try to put it out?" Toph's look of shock turned to anger in an instant.

"You didn't do anything either, Twinkle Toes!" Toph said, firing up at once. "And besides, it's hard enough for me to see on Appa anyway, but fire doesn't make vibrations, so I couldn't see it after it hit."

Aang looked like he was about to make an angry retort, but Katara cut him off. "It doesn't look too bad," she called, examining the burn. "The saddle and his fur took most of it."

Aang sat down on Appa's neck and gave him a big hug. "Are you okay, boy?" Appa only rumbled in reply. Katara sank down in the saddle, staring out at the clouds. If there was any conversation continuing among the other three, Katara lost track of it then. She couldn't believe what had happened in the last few months. _Nothing_ had gone according to plan.

Katara stared into the clouds, stained navy with the gathering darkness. It was all over, but she could feel Zuko's necklace burning a hole in her pocket.

_I broke every rule in the book by falling in love with him. And yet I was always wondering whether or not what I did would upset him,_ she reflected. Thinking it all over, she realized that she had become absolutely dependant on him in a very short time. _It was so fast…_ she thought. _And it wasn't like any of the fairytales Mom used to tell. I know love isn't like that in real life… but if that really was love, it's not worth it._

Later, when they had all fallen asleep, Katara pulled her necklace out of her pocket. She played with it for a moment or so, playing with the pendant and chain. She leaned over the side of her saddle and held her fist out. She opened her hand and let the necklace slide from her hand. She watched it fall until she couldn't see it anymore, and then she just stared at where it had fallen. _Never again,_ she vowed. She would never fall in love again, she'd never let herself down so far again. If that was love, then she wanted out. If feeling hurt so bad, she didn't want to feel.

She went to sleep far later than the others. She might've stayed awake longer if not to banish whatever was at the back of her brain, a nagging sense that something was missing.

**A/N:** Well, this was another long POV, so I'm putting them in separate chapters again. First order of business, I got my best review ever today, from robstarluver, and it was:

"ah! u cant let them kiss so early, it takes time!! love takes time!"

IT DOES TAKE TIME, DOESN'T IT?! -happy dance- And it will take time. This was really helpful to me, and it actually changed the way the entire story's been going. And I think it'll be better now. Or at least, I think my new idea's better than my old one. At the end of this chapter she was rethinking everything and essentially lost her nerve. You'll just have to wait to see how she changes because of this, though XP So, robstarluver, here's a bunch of cookies. -hands robstarluver a bunch of cookies-

So after I post Zuko's POV for this one (which will probably be a short one, because there's a lot of space to fill), the story's taking a way different turn. I know I got at least one review for one of my earlier chapters asking for more of the other characters, and that's what I'm doing. Katara and Zuko won't be in every chapter anymore. Depending on the content, it might be Katara and Aang, or Zuko and Iroh, or just Toph or something. In fact, it won't be Katara/Zuko again for a while yet. I'm excited!

Also, I'm nearing fifty reviews. Please help me get there!

-- S W e e T R e B e L L i o N


End file.
